Customary Court in Lagos to dissolve his 44-
year old marriage with Felicia, for alleged
infidelity.
Ogba, an architect, told the court that the
respondent turned promiscuous and unruly 32
years after their marriage which was
contracted in 1971 and had produced eight
children.
“In 2004, my wife started running after other
men, sleeping about. I am a chief, and
according to our culture, she has done
something taboo”, he said.
He said he had stopped eating at home
because of his wife’s current behaviour,
adding that he had lost the love he used to
have for his her.
“I complained to my fellow chiefs in my
community and they have advised me to send
her out.
“I bought a car for my wife in the 1970s
when she was very young. I did all I could for
her but she prefers to be promiscuous and I
cannot take it anymore.
“Though my children are against my action
because she had poisoned their minds against
me, I prefer to die than coexist with a
woman that indulges in fetish acts”, he said.
Ogba said he had to get another woman to
take care of him two years after his wife
packed out of the matrimonial home.
“I appeal to this court to dissolve this
marriage and eject Felicia from my house
because we cannot coexist”, he said.
Felicia, however, told the court that their
families had settled the case back in the
village, which had dragged on for 10 years
before then.
She said that this made her to return to the
matrimonial home in January.
“I don’t know why my husband should bring
the case to this court because we have settled
the matter in the village after sacrificing a
goat as required by our tradition.
“It is the other woman he brought into the
house that is controlling him. However, my
children have asked me not to pack out of my
matrimonial home, so I will not pack out”,
she said.
Isioma Akolape, one of her daughters, said
she and her siblings had been pleading with
their parents and praying to God for the
settlement of the crisis.
“I was pregnant when my dad drove our
mum away from the house with a cutlass, we
even performed traditional rites with N90,000
to settle the matter.
“My mother married my father when she was
16 years old and without any experience and
they had been living together.
“But my dad had refused to listen to our
pleas for settlement because he had brought
in a new lady.
“I am pleading with our dad, on behalf of the
eight children as my elder brother is out of
the country, to forgive our mum and restore
the relationship”, she told the court.
The president of the court, Mr Hakeem
Oyekan, said, “we acknowledge the fact that
a disagreement arose in the relationship but
dissolving the union will be a bad precedence
that will not be pleasant in the future.
“Truth is bitter but it must be told, the
children should not have allowed the case to
drag on for 10 years before thinking of a
settlement”, he said.
He appealed to Ogba to allow the wife to
move into an apartment outside the main
building.
He advised the couple to remain peaceful and
adjourned the case to April 27 for further
hearing.
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