‘I worked as labourer for my husband to build his house, now he wants divorce’

A housewife, Mrs Kehinde Adewale, yesterday told the Abeokuta Customary Grade II Court, Ake, how she toiled “day and night”, including serving as a labourer at building sites, to enable her husband build his three-bedroom apartment.  She expressed dismay that the husband was seeking to divorce her now despite what she maintained were her sacrifices […]

A housewife, Mrs Kehinde Adewale, yesterday told the Abeokuta Customary Grade II Court, Ake, how she toiled “day and night”, including serving as a labourer at building sites, to enable her husband build his three-bedroom apartment.

 She expressed dismay that the husband was seeking to divorce her now despite what she maintained were her sacrifices towards his success. 

 Kehinde’s husband, Rasheed Adewale, had approached the court to seek an end to their seven- year-old marriage over “incessant curses” from her on him.

 Adewale said he was fed up with what he alleged was her troublesome nature, saying she was always cursing everybody, including his mother, anytime he had a disagreement with her. “I am no longer interested in the marriage,” he declared.

 But Kehinde responded that constant beating and an adulterous lifestyle by her husband had been her lot in the marriage. “Despite me being the only woman that gave him two boys as children, he has been involved in relationships with, at least, eight other women, with nothing to show for it.

 “When he started building his house, I worked as a labourer to ensure it was successfully completed. I also approached a credit and thrift society to obtain a loan to support him. Yet, he was irresponsible and would always pounce on me at any slightest argument. Look at the marks of injuries on my body. 

“In order to make peace, I converted my room’s bathroom into a kitchen because he recently married another woman who is living with us. Yet, there is no peace of mind. I am also fed up with him and that was why I packed out about a year ago. He is here now only because of the children,” Kehinde told the court.

 Adewale’s sister, who accompanied him to the court, supported her brother’s call for divorce, saying, “Since day one, I was not in support of the relationship because I know her (Kehinde’s) background very well.”

  Kehinde’s mother, on the other hand, also pitched her tent with her daughter, claiming that all had not been well in the marriage. She said, “There was no formal introduction to join them together. They cannot come and lay claim to the children now because they are still young.”

 At this stage, the court president, Chief Olalekan Akande, cautioned the mother, saying she could not tell the court what to do. “How do you know that it was the children they wanted? That is why we don’t allow parents to talk. Your presence is only needed to find out if you support the separation or not. You were not living with them, so you cannot say whether it was your daughter or her husband that was guilty. It is only few mothers that come here to tell us the truth,” he said.

Akande subsequently adjourned the case to June 18, 2018 to allow for more family mediation.