4-yr-old marriage heads for the rocks

A 39-year-old businesswoman, Mrs Blessing Ozoemelam, yesterday asked an Agege customary court to dissolve her four-year-old marriage to her husband, Mr Emmanuel Ozoemelam, over allegations of battery, lack of love, infidelity and threat to life. 

Mrs Ozoemelam, a mother of two, who resides at the Abaranje area of Ikotun, a suburb of Lagos, told the court, “I have suffered so much loss due to constant beating by my husband.”

The petitioner claimed that when the pains became unbearable, she reported the matter at the Domestic Violence Unit, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

“I had to take my children out of the house when he continued beating me, even after the matter was reported at the Domestic Violence Unit. There, my husband had signed an undertaking to stop beating me but he never did. I had to go back to my parents’ house when the beating became too much,” she said.

She described her husband as “an aggressive and violent person”, and pleaded with the court to dissolve the union.

“I am no longer interested in the union. My husband does not care for me and beats me habitually,” she said.

She begged the court to give her custody of their children and award her other consequential orders as the court may deem fit.

The respondent, however, denied ever raising his hands against his wife. “I still love my wife and do not want to divorce her,” he said.

Mr Emmanuel, 38, a forex trader, urged the court not to dissolve the marriage. He explained that whenever he tried to leave the home to avoid further confrontation with his wife, she would become violent.

“I don’t beat my wife like she claimed. Rather, she is the one that gets violent anytime we have any misunderstanding,” he said.

The court president, Mrs Ibironke Elabor, told the estranged couple to remain at peace, and adjourned the suit until August 30, 2018 for Alternative Dispute Resolution.