A man, identified as Adebisi, has approached a customary court in Ibadan, Oyo State, seeking an end to his relationship with his partner, Sadia, accusing her of failing to give him a child and frequently engaging him in quarrels.
Adebisi made the request before the Grade A Customary Court in Mapo, alleging that he persuaded Sadia to leave her former husband and move in with him after they began dating in 2004.
He told the court that despite years of living together, Sadia had not given birth to a child for him, adding that repeated efforts to get her pregnant had yielded no result. He also accused her of constantly picking fights with him.
The plaintiff, who said he no longer had feelings for Sadia, asked the court to declare that they should go their separate ways and restrain her from threatening or interfering with his private life.
“I met my wife in 2004 and we started dating. She was already married and living with her husband when we met. I encouraged her to leave her husband and she did,” Adebisi told the court.
However, Sadia opposed the request, insisting that she was not barren. She said she had once conceived for Adebisi but lost the pregnancy through a miscarriage.
The defendant also accused Adebisi of introducing her to fetish practices against her wishes and later abandoning her after ordering her to leave their home, claiming that an evil spirit was residing there.
“I do not want to divorce my husband. It is true he failed to pay my bride price after I left my first husband to live with him. My husband is lying about my inability to have children,” she said.
In her ruling, the court president, Mrs S.M. Akintayo, held that the parties did not have a valid customary marriage, noting that no formal marriage ceremony was conducted and no bride price was paid.
She consequently ruled that there was no marriage to dissolve and directed both parties to maintain peace and order.
