17th February, 2012
A housewife, Folashayo, has told a court that her husband, Bolade Anjorin, is so promiscuous that he brings women to their home and sleeps with them in her presence.
Folashayo, Secretary of the Ifako-Ijaiye Welders Association, who is seeking the dissolution of their 23-year old marriage at an Agege Grade ‘A’ Customary Court sitting in Lagos, southwest Nigeria, also told the court that her welder husband is fond of using dangerous weapons to attack her whenever there is a misunderstanding between them, even while she was pregnant.
The mother of five further told the court that Bolade had on several occasions burnt the goods (baby/children’s wears) she sells, during some of their quarrels because of his eccentric and overbearing attitude.
According to her, “my husband loves women so much that he brings them home. Any time he wants to do this, he would ask me to go to my parents’ house for some time and if I refuse, hell will be let loose. He once told me that he had no money to take them to a hotel.
“At a time, he told me that if I wanted peace to reign in the house, I should woo a particular girl, Sarah, for him. I obliged him for peace to reign because he is too troublesome. They would sleep on the bed while I slept on the carpet. Unfortunately for him, the lady absconded with his money.
Folashayo told the court further that the bone of contention was her dexterity in handling welding jobs, which she learnt from him by chance.
“I got fed up and had to lie that I was single to get a job at Nabisco. Yet, my troublesome husband would come to their gate and start shouting that I was married with two children.
“When the embarrassment became too much for me to bear, I left the job and started going with him to his workshop and gradually, I got to know about the job and started getting customers on my own. Most of our clients prefer me to him due to his waywardness. When he became uncomfortable with my popularity, he chased me out of his workshop. Afterwards, I teamed up with one of his welder friends who later told him that I was building a house.
“When he got home the day he heard about my house, he nearly snuffed life out of me. He said I was building a house when he was still living in a rented apartment. He beat me to the extent that I couldn’t raise any part of my body and I was naked on the floor. He stabbed me in the breast with a fork and I lost so much blood. Then he locked the door from inside, and told our neighbours not to force the door open or else he would kill me. I had to signal to them not to break the door.
“He had on several occasions gone away with women for months only to come back begging for forgiveness after exhausting his money on them and booze. He now smokes Indian hemp and doesn’t care about the upkeep of our children. Our first child is in 200 level in a higher institution but he doesn’t care about his schooling,” she said.
She prayed the court to dissolve the marriage and grant her custody of their five children.
Her husband, who gave his consent to the dissolution of the marriage, told the court that the house in question was a joint effort of both of them, arguing that the money she used to purchase the land belongs to him.
Bolade said he his ready to forfeit the house to his wife, accusing her of infidelity and betraying his trust by going behind him to get jobs from his clients and sleeping with them.
“I usually asked her to deliver finished jobs to our clients. She also does business transactions on my behalf. All our cheques are written in her name. But I later discovered that my customers, which includes a telecommunication service provider, now prefer to do business with her. I later got to know that she was sleeping with them to achieve this.
“She had told me on countless occasions that she was going to her parents’ house, only to end up with numerous male friends. There was a time she brought one of them home not knowing that I was around. When I challenged the man, he couldn’t offer any explanation and was just shivering. After the man left, one of my twins, a 5-year old, told me that he saw the man sleeping with his mother on our matrimonial bed,” he said.
He told the court that it is only his wife that knows who is actually the father of their children.
He claimed that his first son, Niyi, 23, had once torn his clothes in public when he tried to correct him, saying he is not his father.
The court president after listening to both parties adjourned the matter for further hearing.
—Jamiu Yisa