Court Dissolves 5-Year-Old Marriage As Wife Unilaterally Aborts Pregnancy

An Idi-Ogungun Customary Court in Ibadan on Tuesday dissolved a five-year-old marriage between one Wasiu Lawal and his wife, Kehinde, who unilaterally aborted her pregnancy.

It was Kehinde, a 26-year-old trader, who approached the court for the dissolution of the union. She was said to have claimed that she needed to be free from her husband’s continuous harassment.

She said she had to run out of her matrimonial home to stay with her mother at Apete area of Ibadan to avoid the daily harassment.

“I have never had peace of mind since I married him, and I want to be free from him. I owe him nothing,” she said.

Meanwhile, Lawal, a 32-year-old company accountant, who lives at Ijokodo area of Ibadan, admitted that he used to beat his wife. Lawal, however, informed the court that his wife owed him a lot. He claimed that his wife was pregnant before leaving his house for her mother’s house.

“My wife had stopped menstruating before I met her, and this gave my family a lot of concern as she was unable to conceive. She, however, confessed that she had stopped menstruating five years back due to an abortion she had based on her mother’s advice.

“My family and I spent a lot of money on her and went to different places to make sure that she gets back her pride as a woman. During that period, she went to a church. I saw her there and got frustrated, so I beat her because she knew we have our own religion. I took her to the hospital afterwards, and that was the only time I laid my hands on her.’’

Lawal said that his wife was an ingrate. He said that she was just giving excuses for her to leave her matrimonial home. “This was after my family and I had spent a lot on her to make sure she gets back her period,” he said.

The nurse (name withheld), who confirmed Kehinde’s pregnancy, was in court to testify. According to her, the result of the last test that confirmed the pregnancy was given to the couple.

The president of the court, Chief Mukaila Balogun and the two court assessors, Wahab Popoola and Alao Ganiyu, unanimously decided that Kehinde was pregnant, but terminated it to free herself from the union.

The marriage was, therefore, dissolved as both parties had exhibited signs that they were no longer compatible.

(NAN)