An Orile Agege Customary Court in Lagos State has dissolved the
17-year-old marriage between Funmilayo Kareem and her husband, Saliu,
over adultery charges, Tribune Newspaper reports.
Praying before the court, Funmilayo, a mother of three, asked that
the marriage be dissolved as her husband was a dirty man and always
cursed her whenever they fought.
“The major reason I want to divorce him is that he is a dirty man and
he fights and curses me a lot. I do not know how I became his wife,
only God knows, I was forced to marry him, until now, I do not know his
people.
“About two years ago, he told me to follow him to a prophet, I
refused to go, so he asked me to leave and I moved out since 2012 and we
have been separated since then,” she said.
Saliu however denied all the allegations and urged the court to grant his wife’s request.
“It is not true that she was forced to marry me; we knew each other
for about a year before I married her. We even went to pay her bride
price to her family. What actually happened was that she became
adulterous and I reported her to her parents.
“She claimed to be attending vigils, but I got to know that she was
sleeping around. I once did not allow her to go for the vigil but she
insisted and left without my permission.
“I went to the pastor and asked of her, the pastor denied seeing her
and he called her, which was when she said she told me a lie to leave
the house.
“The reason she came to court is that she has a child for another man, she even left my house with the pregnancy,” he said.
In his judgment, President of the court, Chief Bolarinwa Popoola,
held that the marriage ended when the wife left the husband’s house and
had a child for another person.
“Adultery is and has always been a major cause of divorce. This marriage is hereby dissolved with immediate effect,” he said.
