He abandoned me with 7 children to cater for, divorce-seeking woman tells court

A mother of seven children, Seriki Toyin, on Monday told a grade C customary court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, that her husband, Sakiru Rasaq Seriki, abandoned her in 2014 with seven children to cater for. Toyin, praying for divorce, said that taking care of the children, comprising three females and four males, had exhausted […]

A mother of seven children, Seriki Toyin, on Monday told a grade C customary court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, that her husband, Sakiru Rasaq Seriki, abandoned her in 2014 with seven children to cater for.

Toyin, praying for divorce, said that taking care of the children, comprising three females and four males, had exhausted her finances and negatively affected her businesses.

According to her, Seriki, a commercial driver, left the family in Ibadan for Lagos six years ago without considering what the family members would eat, their medical care and the children’s education.

“My lord, I don’t want to see this man again. He has left me with seven children in Ibadan since 2014. I have been battling with their feeding, medical bills and other expenses. He is a pathological liar.

“Before he left us, I was moving from one house to another because he was always fighting me and the landlord. I have been the only one paying house rent and feeding the family. Please, separate us,” she pleaded.

But Seriki told the court that he didn’t wish to leave his wife because of the children.

He said it was a lie that he didn’t care for his wife and the children, as Toyin alleged.

The respondent said, “My wife is a liar. I can’t trust her. She wasn’t complaining about me before but now that I don’t have money again, I am a bad man.

“I caught her having sex with her concubine. I reported her to her church leader but nothing was done. She dragged my mother and tore her clothes. Despite all these, I don’t want to leave her because of my children,” he said.

In his judgment, Odunade Ademola, who led two other arbitrators, Alhaji Suleiman Apampa and Chief Rafiu Raji, dissolved the marriage “in the interest of peaceful living.”

Ademola awarded custody of the seven children produced by the union to Toyin and ordered Seriki to approach the court anytime he desires to meet the children.

He ordered Seriki to be paying N20,000 monthly as feeding allowance for the children and to be taking care of their health, education and general needs.