•I want my wedding ring back – Husband
A 29-year-old medical student, Mrs. Ariyike Adebiyi, has told the Agege Customary Court to dissolve her union with her husband, Mr. Olufemi Adebiyi, because her one year marriage has been full of crises. She told the court that she could no longer continue her marriage with Olufemi because her husband and in-laws are making life impossible for her.
Mrs. Adebiyi, a defendant in a divorce suit instituted by her husband, disclosed to the court that she was forced into labour prematurely and that she delivered her baby at 7 months and 25 days due to her husband's constant harassment.
Her words: "My husband and his family are not good to me and they don't give me rest of mind.
They are after my life. Since I got married to Femi, he has always been behaving funny and my observation about him shows that he is suffering from depression and mood swing. "When I got pregnant, he didn't care about my welfare and I was drinking garri without telling anybody because I love him. But despite all my sacrifice, he didn't show any concern during the pregnancy.
I had frustrated and forced labour due to pressure and stress and my pregnancy was seven months and 25 days when I gave birth to my baby. Few hours to my delivery, my B/P was 130/100, which is not normal. During the labour, I called him 98 times and he refused to pick my calls. I decided to send a text to him.
When I called him 30 minutes after sending the text to inform him that I was in labour, his response was why should I call him. I later put my trust in God and with the help of God; I was delivered of my baby without going through Caesarean section "With the birth of my baby, I thought my husband would be happy irrespective of the disagreement between us, but to my surprise, when he came to the hospital, he didn't show any sign of happiness. Some of my in-laws who visited me in the hospital were also looking as if they were mourning.
Two days after giving birth, I was beaten by Femi's sister in the presence of my husband and he didn't do anything about it. I was also forced out of the house around 2am a few days before the naming ceremony." Speaking on the genesis of her marriage, Ariyike told the court that she is convinced that Olufemi used diabolical means to marry her because she doesn't understand how she got married to him. "I met Femi in Lagos. He was one of the tough guys on my street.
He smoked Indian hemp and drank alcohol. But I decided to move closer to him then because I needed him for a research I was doing on people who smoke and drink. After completing my research, I distanced myself from him and went back to school.
"To my surprise, a few months after leaving Lagos, I saw Femi in my school and when I asked him why he came, he told me that he came to visit me. Because he came late, I gave him audience. We talked and he left shortly after. The day he visited me, I noticed that he was wearing a strange ring on his finger. Since the day he visited me in school, I didn't know what was happening to me until the day that I was delivered of my baby.
"It was after I put to bed that I realised I had been charmed by Femi. One of his friends also told me that Femi used something to charm me to marry him the day he came to visit me in school. I am scared of this marriage and I can't trust him anymore.
I want the court to dissolve the marriage." Responding to the claims by his wife, Mr. Adebiyi prayed the court to allow him have access to his one-year old baby girl, who he had been denied access to by his wife. He also told the court to ask his wife to return the wedding ring he gave her during their traditional wedding a year ago. He said, "I am not interested in the marriage again. I want my ring back and I want to see my child regularly. I want my ring back so that her love will not be in my heart again," he told the court.
Having listened to both parties, the President of the court, Mr. Emmanuel Shokunle, adjourned the matter to November 5, 2013 and ordered both parties to maintain peace until them.
