A divorce-seeking Arabic teacher, Alfa Gasali Gafaru, on Friday dragged his second wife, Rashidat, before an Idi-Ogungun Customary Court for disrespecting him and his senior wife
In his testimony before the court, Gafaru described the defendant as a troublesome woman who has no respect for him and his first wife.
News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, quoted him as explaining that ”I married her four years ago when I had a misunderstanding with my first wife.
”But trouble started when my first wife returned home after we resolved our dispute.
”Rashidat always curses me and my senior wife without recognising me as the head of the family.
“I therefore urge the court to dissolve my relationship with her. I pledge to pay my dues as regards the upkeep of the two kids of the marriage.
“The court should separate us to avoid the temptation of harming her due to her provocative behaviour,” Gafaru said.
Rashidat, 37, in her defence, urged the court not to grant the petitioner’s request for divorce, saying she was nursing a month-old baby.
She accused her husband of conspiring with his senior wife to frustrate her out of her matrimonial home.
The defendant denied ever cursing her husband and his senior wife, adding that “he is the one that treats me like a slave.”
The President of the court, Chief Mukaila Balogun, held that although the defendant was tired of the marriage, “the plaintiff had proved in his statement of readiness to quit the marriage.’’
Balogun therefore dissolved the marriage and ordered a monthly payment of N8,000 by the petitioner to the defendant as upkeep allowance for the two children of the union.
He further ordered the plaintiff to pay N5,000 to the defendant as cost to enable her pack her belongings from his house and an additional N12,000 to enable her secure an accommodation.
