Court dissolves 22-year-old marriage over husband’s insanity

An Igando Customary Court in Lagos State on Wednesday granted a petitioner, Mrs Joy Obioma’s request for the dissolution of her 22-year-old marriage over the husband’s insanity.

Delivering his judgment, the president of the court, Mr Hakeem Oyekan, said he was convinced that the couple could no longer live together as the petitioner insisted on divorce after several interventions.

“The court has no choice than to dissolve the union in spite of the fact that the husband still claims he loves his wife.

“The couple can no longer stay together because the marriage has broken down totally; both parties are no longer husband and wife, they are free to go their separate ways,’’ Oyekan ruled.

Joy, 42, a businesswoman, had filed an application seeking to divorce her husband over his madness and threat to her life.

The mother of four said that her husband, Godfrey Obioma whom she married 22 years ago was a lunatic.

“My husband is not well, sometimes he can just go naked and start breaking bottles, looking for whom to stab, and everybody in the compound will be running for their dear lives.

“There was a day he ran out of the house with a cutlass looking for somebody’s hand to amputate,’’ she told the court.

“One day he (the husband) threatened to pour acid on me to disfigure me and make me less attractive; and he also threatened to burn down the house and run away,’’ she said.

The petitioner also alleged that her husband was a hemp smoker who starts his day with the harmful substance.

“Indian hemp is my husband’s first meal before breakfast, he takes it around 5 a.m., and after taking it, he will start to misbehave and pounce on me.

“I have been paying our rent, the children’s school fees with the support of my parents and siblings.

However, Godfrey, 49, businessman, denied the allegations and said nobody could separate him and his wife, reports the News Agency of Nigeria (NANA).

“My wife and I are made from `heaven’ to be husband and wife, nobody can separate us,’’ he told the court.

The respondent said that he could not kill his wife but admitted threatening her with some dangerous weapons.

Godfrey pleaded with the court to save the marriage, saying “I am still very much in love with her’’.