Court dissolves 8-yr-old marriage over irreconcilable differences

An Ado-Ekiti Customary Court on Tuesday dissolved the eight-year-old marriage between one Rasak Bello and his wife, Aminat, over irreconcilable differences.

The President of the court, Mrs Olayinka Akomolede, who listened to both parties, dissolved the marriage, saying it had broken down irretrievably.

Our correspondent reports that the union was dissolved on the grounds of ‎lack of care for the petitioner and children, mismanagement of his business, fetishism, infidelity, stubbornness and frequent fighting.

The petitioner, Mr Rasak Bello, 43, a businessman, and a resident of No.7, Basiri Street, Ado-Ekiti, had earlier told the court that he had known the respondent for eight years and they conducted a traditional marriage.

According to him, ‎the marriage was later blessed with three children–Abideen, Idayyat and Mubarak– aged seven, four and one respectively.

The petitioner, however, expressed regrets over his marriage with the respondent, saying she does not cook for him neither does she take care of the children.

The father of three told the court that when the respondent refused to perform her duties, he employed a housemaid to cook for him.

He, however, said the respondent often beat the house maid mercilessly.

Rasak also alleged that the respondent contributed to the collapse of his rice business because she was selling on credit to friends and siblings.

The petitioner further said that the respondent was fetish, alleging that she often ‎brought a native doctor and clergyman to his apartment without his consent and in spite of the fact that she is a Muslim.

He said the respondent later confessed to him that the pastor ‎ caused the petitioner’s former wife to pack out of the house.

Rasak said the respondent underwent a “family ‎planning” without his approval, adding that he had to take her to the hospital for proper treatment after she experienced some complications.

He also told the court that the respondent often received love messages from men whom she claimed were her ex-boyfriends.

The petitioner prayed to the court to dissolve his marriage with the respondent and award the custody of his three children to him for the sake of their future.

The respondent and 29-year-old trader from Ughele in Delta, however, denied all the allegations levelled against her by the petitioner.

She blamed the mismanagement of the rice business on the calibre of sales girls that the petitioner employed.

Aminat also denied the allegations of fetishism, adding that she did not bring any native doctor or pastor to their matrimonial home.

She, however, admitted smacking the housemaid because she was rude and refused to take corrections.

The respondent explained that the maid was fond of indecent dressing and had always refused to change.

Aminat consented to the request by the petitioner that the marriage be dissolved.

Akomolede, in her ruling, ordered that the petitioner be given custody of the two eldest children while the youngest remains in the custody of the respondent until he attained the age of six.

The president also added that the respondent should release him to the petitioner for proper care and monitoring once he is six years.

Akomolede ordered the petitioner to be paying N4,000 to the respondent as monthly upkeep allowance for the youngest child.

She also ruled that the petitioner should be responsible for the education‎ of the three children at all levels.

The magistrate further ruled that both parties should have unrestricted access to the children in their custody.‎