A teacher, Mrs Uju Onyekachi, has appealed to an Igando Customary Court in Lagos to dissolve her marriage to her husband, Jude for fear of being beaten to death.
She told the court that her husband regularly beats her.
She said:”I am scared of domestic violence. The case of men beating their wives to death is getting rampant, I don’t want to end up a victim”
Onyekachi, a resident of Ijegun, Lagos also alleged that Jude uses abusive words on her and calls her good for nothing.
“I am the only one working, He stays at home doing nothing, He never helps me do anything.He calls me names and threatens me. My family have tried several times to intervene but he has refused to stop, he disrespects my family, locks me.Due to his attitude, my family members have stopped visiting me,” she said.
She told the court her husband said that his love for her has waned
”He said he loves me only 20 per cent. I want to move on with my life.,” she said.
She also prayed the court to order her husband to take the dowry he paid before marriage.
The President of the Court, Mr Adeniyi Koledoye, dissolved the union as the respondent, Jude, refused to show up in court to give evidence.
“Using abusive words on one’s wife is disrespectful. If a woman submits to her husband the husband ought to honour and respect her in return but in this case, the respondent did not demonstrate any act of affection to his wife.
“He didn’t make any attempt to stop the petitioner from going on with the divorce or defend the suit, this is an indication of no more love and the marriage has broken down beyond retrievable and as such the dissolution of their marriage succeeds,” he held.
