Court dissolves 9-yr-old marriage over religion, frequent fighting

An Ado-Ekiti Customary Court has dissolved a nine-year-old marriage between Ayodele Olaoye and his wife, Oluwatoyin, on grounds of frequent fighting and irreconcilable differences on religion. Olaoye, 48, who lives along the Federal Polytechnic road, Odo-Ado, Ado-Ekiti, had approached the court to end his marriage to Oluwatoyin, whom he met in 2010 and had lived […]

An Ado-Ekiti Customary Court has dissolved a nine-year-old marriage between Ayodele Olaoye and his wife, Oluwatoyin, on grounds of frequent fighting and irreconcilable differences on religion.

Olaoye, 48, who lives along the Federal Polytechnic road, Odo-Ado, Ado-Ekiti, had approached the court to end his marriage to Oluwatoyin, whom he met in 2010 and had lived with for five years as a couple, on allegations she was always abusing and cursing him, and calling him a ritualist.

The father of two, who disclosed he is an adherent of the Holy Grail, was also displeased that his wife refused to take on the Grail membership, even after much persuasion from him and his religious leader.

Rather, Oluwatoyin, he alleged, labelled him a ritualist who wanted to use the children in the marriage for ritual. He added that his wife went ahead to report him to his boss in the office that he was a cultist and he was consequently demoted.

The petitioner said that his wife made the home unbearable for him and he had to pack out.

He, therefore, urged the court to separate them and grant him access to be visiting his children  –  Faith Olaoye, 6, and four-year-old Otitodele Olaoye –  in her custody without any trouble.

Oluwatoyin, 40, a resident of Moferere, Ado-Ekiti, admitted that they have stopped living together since 2015.

Denying Olaoye’s claim that she was always abusing and cursing him, she also said her husband had lied about being demoted in his office as it was him who tendered a letter of resignation.

She said it was religion that caused their quarrels: they were both, she narrated, members of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles church until her husband suddenly decided to be attending the Holy Grail society, a step she did not agree with.

“I was not comfortable with his attitude since he joined the Grail message. His dressing changed and, sometimes, he would be talking alone. There was a time I went to his place of worship with the children. The surrounding of the place was horrible,” she said.

The president of the court, Mrs Olayinka Akomolede, observed that the marriage had broken down irretrievably and consequently dissolved it.

Akomolede awarded the custody of the children to Oluwatoyin, and directed that the husband should be paying N5,000 on each of the children for their feeding allowance and should be allowed to meet them without any quarrel.

She ruled that the husband shall be responsible for the education of the children, while the respondent should restrain from abusing, cursing and intimidating the petitioner.