On account of adultery and physical abuse, Lawal Balikis, 28, has pleaded with an Orile Agege Customary Court, Lagos to dissolve her seven-year-old marriage to her husband, Aliu,
Balikis, a hairdresser told the court that she had vacated her matrimonial home since 2013.
“Before I moved out, everything was fine. We moved into a new apartment. Then one day, I was surprised when my husband decided that we had to move back to our former compound.
“I once stood in as guarantor for our landlady’s daughter when she obtained a loan. But when I told my husband about it he warned me against the idea and I backed out. That was when the trouble started. Her attitude changed towards me completely to the point she threatened to beat me up.”
“My husband did not intervene, his attitude also changed to me. I gave birth shortly after and he didn’t come to visit me in the hospital until the day of the naming ceremony which took place at the house.”
According to her, he started beating her frequently for no reason.
“He accused me of coming between him and the landlady’s daughter. This made me leave the house but my children were forcibly taken away from me,” she said.
Balikis pleaded with the court that their union be dissolved because she did not love her husband anymore. She asked for full custody of her children.
The 35-year-old husband, a commercial motorcyclist, denied all the allegations.
“My wife is a quarrelsome woman, she fights a lot and has fought in two different houses that we have lived,” he said.
“I apologised for what the landlady’s daughter did. I do not have an affair with the woman or any other person. I paid her hospital bills,” he further added.
The Ilaro indigene told the court that his wife voluntarily packed out of the house.
He said he did not love her anymore but asked for the custody of their children.
The court president, Dr. S. O. Whenu, adjourned the case till July 11, 2017 to determine if there is a chance of reconciliation and also to determine who gets custody of the children.
