Court saves seven-year marriage.....

 

A  Lagos Island Customary Court in Lagos has saved the seven-year-old marriage of Mr and Mrs Taiwo Dallas.

The judges, it was learnt, reconciled the couple after a mediation.

The petitioner, Mrs Monsurat Dallas, a 39-year-old businesswoman, had accused her husband of not trusting her.

She said: “When we got married, he rented an apartment for me in Ajah where I lived with his son, one of his workers and a maid but still he didn’t trust me or my movements. He also told me he was done with his first wife but few months after our union, they reconciled but they lived separately.”

Mrs Dallas said she moved to where her husband lives but that didn’t change anything.

Her husband, she said, was fond of beating her, adding: “There was a day he beat me mercilessly and I reported to his twin brother but he didn’t say what I wanted to hear at that moment. I was once admitted in the hospital because of the beating.

“He took our first son away from me when he was barely four-years old to live with his first wife and this is the woman I am not on good terms with. As I speak, my son lives with them,” she added.

The petitioner said her family once tried to reconcile them but her husband said he was no longer interested in the marriage.

She said: “Since he openly said that he doesn’t need me anymore, I moved on. In fact, I now live with another man whom I intend to marry. I also don’t need him anymore.”

The 48-year-old Dallas said he married her because she got pregnant few weeks after they met through a friend.

Dallas, a thrift collector (aka alajo) said:”The reason I rented a comfortable apartment for her was because she almost terminated the pregnancy. I just didn’t trust her because there was a day I visited my house and I was hinted by neighbours that a particular man visited her whenever I was away from home even if I never saw the man.”

The respondent said he took their son from her because she wasn’t taking proper care of him, adding that she doesn’t listen to him.

He said: “She had left the house I rented for her and I had no choice than to take our son with me to my previous wife’s place. At times, she came home at odd hours drunk.”

Mr Dallas said the only time he beat his wife was when she refused to sweep the house, adding that he slapped her when she almost dipped her fingers into his eyes.

The court’s President, Chief Awos Awosola, urged the couple to maintain peace always.

“I plead with you both to go home and continue in love and peace,” he said.