40-yr-old man seeks marriage dissolution over lack of care

A civil servant, Azeez Ogidan, has pleaded with a customary court sitting at the Agege local government to dissolve his eight-year-old marriage to his wife, Risikat. Ogidan told the court that Risikat had been causing him problems since his financial condition went bad. He said, “Eventually, we had a son. I knew she wasn’t ready […]

A civil servant, Azeez Ogidan, has pleaded with a customary court sitting at the Agege local government to dissolve his eight-year-old marriage to his wife, Risikat.

Ogidan told the court that Risikat had been causing him problems since his financial condition went bad.

He said, “Eventually, we had a son. I knew she wasn’t ready to be a mother when our child was two months old. She dropped him with me saying she wanted to pick something at the next compound, only to hear that my wife was at the Cotonou market.

“I have been taking care of my son, bathe him and do some domestic things too. We were always fighting to the extent that I beat her. I want this court to dissolve my marriage but I want to take custody of my child.”

Risikat Ogidan, a 34-year-old businesswoman, replied that her husband had not been taking good care of her. “I registered my child in school and was paying his school fee. It was only when I had a problem early this year that we started sharing payment of the school fee.

“Anytime I asked my husband for money, he would pick up an issue and beat me. My husband would come back from work drunk. The only time he took care of our child was when the househelp left us. I also don’t want to continue with this marriage, but I want to take custody of my son,” she said.

The court president, Mrs Patricia Adeyanju, said she would hold a meeting with the couple in her office later in the day in an effort to resolve the dispute.