An Ado-Ekiti Customary Court on Thursday dissolved the 10-year-old marriage between one Omotunde Ajidagba and her husband, Abdulateef, over desertion and lack of care on the part of the latter.
Omotunde, 33, a resident of Ado-Ekiti, had asked the court to dissolve the marriage on the grounds of desertion and lack of care.
The petitioner, who said she married her husband in 2008, alleged that her estranged husband had deserted her and the children since 2011 to live with another woman.
“Abdulateef later came back home and was not contributing anything to the household.
“There was a time his concubine threatened me that I should release her husband because she already had a baby for him,” the mother of two said.
The petitioner said that she got to know that her husband had a child out of wedlock through his new wife.
Omotunde, who said she was fed up with the relationship, urged the court to dissolve the marriage and award the custody of the children to her.
Abdulateef, 35, a resident of No.4, Federal housing, Oke-Ila in Ado-Ekiti, said that he stopped cohabiting with his wife in 2012.
He, however, denied not taking care of his children.
“I usually drop money for them no matter how small,” Abdulateef said.
He also admitted impregnating another woman when he was not with his wife.
“But there was nothing between me and the other woman again.
“I could not fully shoulder the responsibility of taking care of our children for seven years because I had no money,” the respondent added.
He, however, supported the dissolution of the marriage.
The President of the court, Mrs Olayinka Akomolede, observed that the marriage had broken down irretrievably and consequently dissolved it.
Akomolede awarded the custody of the children to the petitioner.
She ordered that the respondent should be paying the sum of N3,000 monthly as feeding allowance for each of the children.
Akomolede also ordered both parties to be responsible for the education of their children.
She said access should be granted to the respondent to see his children in the school.
