Court dissolves 5-year-old marriage over battery, infidelity

A Jos Upper Area Court, on Monday dissolved the 5-year old marriage between Mercy Zoakah and her husband, Danjuma Zoakah, over wife battery and infidelity.

The Judge, Yahaya Mohammed, who dissolved the marriage, said the couple could no longer live together as the marriage has broken down irretrievably.

“The court has no choice than to dissolve the marriage, in spite the fact that the husband still claims he loves his wife, but his wife still insists on getting a divorce.

“Both parties are no longer husband and wife, and they are free to go their separate ways,” he said.

The court, however, granted custody of their only child to the petitioner, and gave the father of the child the right to visit the child within a reasonable interval.

He said that any aggrieved party had 30 days within which to appeal the judgment.

Earlier, the petitioner, Mercy told the court that her husband of five years, indulged in the act of cruelty, beating and slapping her at the slightest provocation.

She said that the respondent was also engaged in adulterous act, as she had intercepted his phone which had various text messages that proved his affairs.

The petitioner also said that the respondent had on several occasions made attempts to commit suicide.

She said that he had been caught and disarmed with a knife by neighbours while trying to kill himself.

Mercy, however, urged the court to dissolve the marriage as there was no love between them.

The respondent has pleaded with the court not to dissolve the marriage as he still loves his wife.