An Igando Customary Court in Lagos on Tuesday dissolved the 29-year-old marriage of a 60-year-old trader, Mr Femi Olatunde, who accused his wife of witchcraft.
The court’s President, Mr Adeniyi Koledoye, declared that it was proper for both parties to go their separate ways since they were tired of being husband and wife.
Koledoye held that the court’s decision was in the best interest of the parties as all efforts to reconcile them had failed, leaving the court with no other choice.
“The court hereby pronounces the marriage between Mr Femi Olatunde and Mrs Yemi Olatunde dissolved today.
“Both of you henceforth cease to be husband and wife.
“Each of you should go his or her separate way unmolested; the court wishes both of you well in your future endeavours.”
He held that Olatunde would be responsible for the children’s education and general welfare.
The president ordered the petitioner to pay a severance fee of N400,000 to his wife for her to move on with her life.
Olatunde had earlier told the court that his wife was a witch.
“My wife entered the world of darkness in order to destroy my life.
“She attacked me severally in my dreams which resulted to sicknesses in the physical world.
“Yemi is fetish; she took my picture to a herbalist and some charms were made on it which nearly paralysed me but God intervened.”
The embattled husband said that his wife instigated his children to steal.
“My money always gets missing but the most painful was when my wife colluded with my son to duplicate the key of my room and stole N250,000 a client gave me to do a job.
“My son, who later admitted stealing the money, could not give account of it.”
He said that Yemi threatened to kill him by poisoning his food.
“There was a day I finished eating and immediately started experiencing stomach pain.
“I rushed to the Church and was given some antidote and anointing oil which made me to vomit the poison.
“Whenever we have misunderstanding, she invites hoodlums to the house to attack me. She has done that on seven occasions,” he said.
In her defence, the 54-year-old Yemi, a trader, denied all the allegations and accused her husband of turning her into a punching bag.
“My husband beats me at the slightest provocation. There was a day he beat me and I had to be hospitalised.
“I did not poison his food neither did I send hoodlums to attack him and I have never encouraged the children to steal.”
The respondent said that her husband was irresponsible, claiming that he was starving the family and had always refused to pay the children’s school fees.
The mother of five said that her husband was fetish and was the one responsible for her sickness.
“I entered his room one day and saw a dead fowl with candles surrounding it. I have been sick and it reached a stage that I once lost my senses.”
According to her, Femi sleeps in the hotel with different women.
“He eventually married one of them,” she told the court.
(NAN)
