Joseph Okoro,48,?on Tuesday,?requested?an Oshodi Customary Court in Lagos, to dissolve his marriage over his wife's?alleged defamation and denial of access to children.
Okoro, a businessman, told the court that his wife, Ada, accused him of belonging to a secret cult, thereby making people to avoid him.
“She accused me of wanting to donate my children for ritual in the cult, in order to buy a car and so, she absconded with the children to her parent's house in Anambra,’’he said.
Okoro alleged that since 2003 when his wife packed out, he had not set his eyes on his four children.
“When I went to her village in 2008 to see my children, my brother-in-law and two others beat me up and refused me access to my children,”Okoro said.
He told the court that he wanted the custody of the children so that he could bring them up properly.
Okoro, who resides at No. 17, Samuel St., Mafoluku, Oshodi, Lagos, also told the court that Ada was troublesome and disrespectful.
“My wife is a python that can kill; she is dangerous and can shorten the life span of a person. I am tired of the union; I don’t want to die young.
?”Whenever we had a fight, she would design my church clothes with razor blade, turning them to rags,” the estranged husband said.
The respondent, Ada, 34, however,?told the court that his husband would not see the children except he went to?her village to pay her bride price.
?“After four children, he is yet to pay my bride price; anytime I asked him to go and pay, he will refuse to comply.
“He paid nothing; no traditional marriage and no introduction, he does not have the right to claim the children.
?“If he wants the children, he should come and settle with my family,“she said.
The court president, Alhaja A. Olorunimbe, ordered the petitioner to be paying N10, 000 monthly for the upkeep of the children.
?The court advised Okoro to get a phone for his first son, who is 15 years old, so that he could be communicating with his children.
Olorunimbe?adjourned the case to Oct. 17, for further hearing. (NAN)