Our so-called 14-yr-old marriage is mere association, says divorce-seeking husband

A civil servant in Ayedun-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Adebayo Awogbemi, has described his 14-year-old marriage to his wife, Odunola, as a “mere association” and appealed to an Ikole-Ekiti customary court to end it.

The association has produced four children, namely, Boluwatife, 14; Oluwakemi, 12; Tofunmi, 8; and Feranmi, 6.

Awogbemi, at the sitting of the court yesterday, accused Odunola of adultery and constant fighting, saying she had not been giving him peace of mind.

The petitioner, 49, and resident of A5, Oloro Street, Odo Ayedun-Ekiti, told the court he caught his wife “red-handed with her concubine on three different occasions”, adding she was fond of sleeping outside her matrimonial home every weekend.

Awogbemi said the alleged concubine’s mother even reported Odunola to the Elekole of Ikole Ekiti, Oba Ajibade Fasiku, in February 2019, pleading that the monarch should stop her from having sexual affairs with her son.

The petitioner also informed the court he collected a loan of N1 million to set up a business for his wife to make his wife comfortable.

“But all of a sudden, she started having secret affairs with another man in her shop and both of them prevented me from coming to the shop that I rented for her,” he alleged.

According to him, Odunola took her four children away from their home on December 17, 2018 without his consent.

The petitioner told the court that he had been responsible for the feeding and payment of the children’s school fees since January 2018 till October 2018 when the respondent took them away.

Awogbemi prayed the court to dissolve the “association” with the respondent and restrain her from coming to his home or family house.

He also urged the court to grant him custody of their two sons, Tofunmi and Feranmi, to enable him take good care of them.

The president of the court, Mrs Yemisi Ojo, after hearing the petitioner’s testimony, adjourned the matter till March 11, 2019 for further hearing.