An eighty-year-old man, Muritala Haroon, has dragged his 71-year-old wife, Alhaji Afusat Haroon, before Oja Oba/ Mapo Court C Customary Court, Mapo Ibadan, Oyo State.
Muritala told the court he married his wife in 1969 and that their eldest child is 47 years old.
According to
him, his wife has not given him rest of mind.
The plaintiff explained that the defendant was
always on his neck and had no respect for his family members.
He added that she turned all their children
against him.
Muritala further stated that Afusat was always
refusing him sex and banging her door on him. He said she flaunted it before
him that she has another man taking care of her.
The plaintiff explained that the defendant was
always threatening to kill him. According to him, she almost made real her
threat when she attempted to stab him with a knife because he took a new wife.
Muritala thus begged the court to dissolve their
marriage.
Afusat refused that their wedlock be dissolved.
According to her, she had faithfully served her
husband, whom she bore six children for almost throughout her life.
She added that she had always refused her husband
sex to protect her life. According to her, her husband loves women and is still
in one relationship or the other.
Afusat explained that he took ill and started
behaving strangely after spending the night with his new wife.
She stated that Muritala once hit her on the head
with a stone and that at another time with an iron bar on her shoulder.
Muritala, giving his evidence, said: “My
experience has been a harrowing one since I got married to my wife 52 years
ago. I regret ever marrying her.
“We got married in 1969 and our eldest child
is 51 years old but despite this, we still shout at each other and fight.
“All that Afusat wants is that I die. She
wishes me dead all the time.
“Any time we have a misunderstanding, she
will compose a song to spite me. The undertone of her songs all the time is
that I die.
“Afusat has no regard for my family members.
She never ceases to ridicule and humiliate them.
“We often quarrel because she loves to lord
it over me and this I always resist.
“My lord, my wife till date refuses me sex.
Whenever I demand sex, she will refuse that I enter her room. She will bang the
door of her room in my face if I insist on having my way.
“Hell was let loose when I married a younger
woman. She got jealous and mad with me one day and almost stabbed me with a
knife. I would have been a dead man by now if my younger wife had not screamed
when she forced herself into my room and aimed the knife at me.
“I dodged her and held her hand from the
back. We both struggled with the knife before other family members, who were
around, came to my rescue.
“Her siblings came to fight me and destroy my
property after this. They beat me blue-black, broke my glass door and pulled
down the other doors.
“I went out of my way to care for her family
members but they rewarded me with evil.
“Afusat was a dullard when I married her. She
knew nothing. I was the one who taught her to read and write but she now lords
it over me.
“My wife turned our children against me. My
lord, I believe these children belong to cults. They plan to get rid of me and
take over my property.
“They once came to the house and collected
documents of my property and keys to my possessions from me. I was scared that
they wanted to kidnap and kill me. I, therefore, started shouting on top of my
voice for help.
“Afusat of recent told me he has another man
taking care of her.
“My lord, I don’t want my wife under my roof
any more. I’m also no longer interested in our children.
“I beg this court to hear my prayer and
separate us,” the plaintiff said in a report by Tribune.
Afusat said, “My lord, I refuse to accede to
divorce. I spent my whole life serving my husband. He never allowed me to
establish myself because we were always moving from one country to another.
“He was awarded a scholarship in 1972 and we
moved to Saudi Arabia. From there, we went to Nairobi, Zaire and then back to
Nigeria.
“On getting to Nigeria, we moved to Ikere
Ekiti and from there, he was posted to Lagos.
“He couldn’t secure accommodation early
enough in Lagos and had to put up with a friend. I moved into my family’s house
with our children and was there till he could afford reasonable and affordable
accommodation and we all started living together again.
“We moved to Ibadan about 10 years ago and he
built a three-bedroom flat where we presently live.
“My husband and I lived peacefully all
through these years; we were always eating together.
“He suddenly took ill after spending the
night with his new wife. His wife raised the alarm when he started behaving
strangely. She called unto me and I rushed to his room. We rushed him to
the hospital and after several tests were carried out, we were told he would
have to be on some drugs for life.
“Our children spent through the nose taking
care of him while I was by his bed all through the time he was on admission in
the hospital, but he has now turned round to give us a bad name.
“My lord, there was never a time I attempted
to stab him. He was the one who once hit me on the head with a stone and, at
another time, an iron bar on my shoulder.
“He has brought into our homes different
women at various times that he referred to as his wives, but they all ended up
duping him. They all ran away with his money and property.
“My husband still demands sex at the age of
80, and I always say no.
“I refuse him sex because he’s always into a
relationship with strange women. I cherish my life and wish to live long and
stay healthy.”
