“My husband has no shame. My parents feed our children and pay our house rent. All he does is to get drunk. When he is drunk, he turns me into a punching bag. He would beat me till I would almost lost consciousness. The last time he beat me, he broke two of my teeth.

“He will kill me if I continue to stay under the same roof with him. I pray the court to put an end to our marriage.”

Rashidat had brought a divorce suit against her husband, Jimoh Hameed, at Ile Tuntun Customary Court, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State, accusing him of being irresponsible and a drunk. She added that he beat her always.

She thus prayed the court to terminate their marriage and grant her custody of their two children.

“My husband refused to carry out his duties from the outset of our marriage. He refused to give me money to buy the necessary things for our first child seven months into the pregnancy. It was my parents who bailed us out.

“His complaint had always been paucity of fund. My parents again took up the responsibility of paying our house rent when our landlord threatened to throw us of his house for owing rent.

“He does not show concern about my welfare and that of our children. I feed the family from the little gain I make from my business. This gradually took its toll on the business. I later decided to borrow some amount to sustain it.

“I found it difficult paying back my debt and my creditor kept harassing me. She reported me to my husband who told her I couldn’t be trusted with money.

“He accused me of soiling his name by not paying back my debt and descended on me with heavy blows not minding that I was carrying our baby. He almost snuffed life out of me,” she stated.

“My husband spends all his income on alcohol and he is in the habit of drinking himself to stupor. Any time we have an argument, he would beat me and threaten to stab me. I left for my parents’ house in 2015 when I realised that I was no longer safe with him.

“He came back this year apologising and pleading that I should come back home with him, but I refused.

“He kept coming to my parents’ place under the pretext that he wanted to see our children. I gave him access to the children and he started visiting them on a regular basis.

“After a while, he began to complain that I returned from shop too late. A few weeks after this, he began to accuse me of dating other men,” the plaintiff added.

“The last time we fought, he came to my parents’ home really drunk. He called our children wrong names. I corrected him and this turned into an argument and then a fight.

“He slapped me, hit my head on the pavement and broke my teeth. He also dealt my mother punches. He finally made his way out of the building before our neighbours could apprehend him,” she told the court.

Hameed agreed to a divorce and told the court that, “My wife is a liar. If you give her N50, 000 today as feeding allowance, she will deny it and tell those who care to listen she has not eaten for a week.

“When I learnt she borrowed money and couldn’t pay back, I gave her N25, 000 to settle the debt, but she kept this away from her parents.

“I was trying to process a United Kingdom visa and gave her a substantial amount to keep. My lord, she couldn’t produce this money when I needed it. I paid several visits to her parents’ house in order to collect the money from her, but she kept telling me stories till the time of payment for the visa lapsed,” he said.

“My father-in-law once invited me to his house. My mother-in-law was also present at the meeting. He brought out alligator pepper and bitter kola and asked me to chew both which I did. He then brought out a dane gun and asked me to swear that I would never divorce my wife or marry another woman.

“I was shocked. I refused to swear and left their home in anger. I told my wife what transpired between me and her parents. She was furious and went to confront them,” Hameed stated.

“She finally moved out of my house and went to her parents’ place after we had a misunderstanding.

“I was away on a business trip for more than a year. While on the trip, I met another woman who had a baby for me.

“On returning from my trip, I discovered my wife had taken to prostitution. I went to my wife’s shop and requested to see my children. I met her laughing and talking carelessly in the midst of men.

“She once told me to meet her at an eatery when I requested to speak with her privately. On getting there, I met her among her so-called friends who are call girls.

“My friends later told me she was always visiting a particular hotel every night with one of her lovers. I trailed her to this hotel at four different times and caught her with her lover,” the defendant said.

“I went to see my children in her parents’ house and she fought me. Her mother held me from the back and tore my clothes, while my wife bit me on the chest. She fell while struggling with me. I ran away from the scene when they called on their neighbours to apprehend me.

“They have been threatening to arrest me with the police since then,” he concluded.

After listening to both parties, the court president, Chief Olasunkanmi Agbaje, stated that more evidence would be needed.

He, therefore, adjourned the case till December 12 and ordered both parties to come to court with their children and parents.