By Olawale Akinremi
Ibadan – A Mapo Customary Court in Ibadan, on Tuesday, dissolved a 16-year-old marriage between one Ajara Salami and Taofeek Salami over waywardness and promiscuity.
In his judgment, Chief Ademola Odunade, the President of the court, said he dissolved the marriage because there was no more love between the two parties.
Odunade said that Ajara was a big disgrace to womanhood for sleeping with another man while pretending to be in love with Taofeek.
Besides, the court president expressed bitterness over the role played by Ajara’s concubine, Kehinde Titilope, for destroying a hitherto happy home.
Earlier, Ajara, a resident of Muslim area in Ibadan, who sought divorce, said that her husband had been a huge problem to her life by usually taking her to witchdoctors for charms.
“After some years of our marriage, Taofeek suddenly became impotent. He took me to different witchdoctors to sign a covenant with him that I would not be pregnant for another man.
“So, I agreed with him and the last two children were the ones I got for Kehinde Titilope.
“Although I was staying with Taofeek, he didn’t sleep with me because he is impotent.
“Besides, Taofeek is so promiscuous to the extent that he slept with my house girl and the first daughter I had before marrying him.
“If any minor misunderstanding occurred between us, Taofeek would beat me,” Ajara said.
Taofeek, who consented to the divorce, debunked all the allegations levelled against him.
He explained that he expelled Ajara from his home because of her constant infidelity with the man she now claimed to be her lover.
“I named the two children in question as Mustafa and Tawa respectively and I took care of their placenta.
“When I saw that Kehinde did not stop following Ajara about, I got him arrested and that was when Ajara left my home.
“Our first child here can say much about the entire episode,” Taofeek said.
In his testimony, the 15 year-old first child of the family corroborated his father’s submission that his mother was not an example of a good mother and wife because she had sent him to her concubine on many occasions.
However, in an attempt to claim the two children, Kehinde submitted that he was never aware that Ajara was still married to Taofeek.
“My lord, I have been dating Ajara for a long time, but we lost contact in 2006 only to meet again some years later and we were getting on well.
“In 2013, she told me that she was no longer with Taofeek as a wife and that the whole door was open for me now and that was the reason I rented her an apartment,” he said.
Kehinde, a generator dealer at Olunloyo area of Ibadan, informed the court that he named the two children Samule and Modupeoluwa.
The judge, however, awarded custody of the first three children to Taofeek and directed that DNA test be conducted to ascertain the paternity of the two controversial children.
(NAN)
