‘He has hidden my undies and sold my chickens’

A mother of three, Memunatu Ramoni, yesterday told a customary court sitting in Mapo, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, that her husband, Ramoni Oseni, has hidden some of her belongings, which include brassiere and panties, and sold her chickens and some cooking utensils. Memunatu said she was seeking for divorce from Oseni “to enable me […]

A mother of three, Memunatu Ramoni, yesterday told a customary court sitting in Mapo, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, that her husband, Ramoni Oseni, has hidden some of her belongings, which include brassiere and panties, and sold her chickens and some cooking utensils.

Memunatu said she was seeking for divorce from Oseni “to enable me enjoy my life”, as Oseni was always allegedly beating her “for no reason.” She added that her husband was also always threatening to kill her with a knife and had never cared for and their children. 

The divorce-seeking wife said when she had her last pregnancy, her husband declared he wouldn’t be responsible for it because, she quoted him as saying, it was not his own, adding when she eventually had a still-birth, Oseni left the baby for her to bury without paying the hospital bill.

Memunatu accused her husband of destroying her shop where, she reminded the court, she was earning money to care of her children. 

“My Lord, I am tired of this marriage, please separate us,” she prayed the court.

Reacting, Oseni, a farmer said he was frustrated with the way his wife was treating him.  He told the court that he was not ready to divorce his wife, though he admitted he usually beat her whenever her behaviour frustrated him.

Oseni also admitted taking Memunatu’s undies, but said he had returned them, as well as her other belongings he seized, to their rented apartment before coming to court. The president of the court, Chief Ademola Odunade, held that the court was not established to separate couples but to uphold marriages, except on exceptional cases.

Odunade adjourned the case till March 28, 2018 for further hearing, saying time would allow the couple to consider settlement and consultation.