Divorce Petition: Court Adjourns Till May

A Lagos high court has adjourned till 31 May this year for mention, a divorce petition filed by a Lagos businessman, Mr. Osagie Ogunbor against his wife, Augusta Ebahi Osagie-Ogunbor and the party cited Mr. Frank Mba.

According to the said petition filed before the court by the law firm of Wahab Shittu, on behalf of Mr. Osagie Ogunbor, the petitioner, a businessman averred that he petitioned the court for a decree of dissolution of his marriage with his wife Augusta Ebahi, on the ground that the marriage has broken down irretrievably in that his wife committed adultery and has deserted him for a continuous period of more than one year and that she has behaved in several ways that he found it incontrollable to live with her while Frank Mba, the person cited as a Superintendent of Police was also joined in the petition.

The petitioner, a bachelor on 25 September, 1999 married the respondent, then a spinster at the Agege Marriage Registry, Lagos State, southwest Nigeria.

The petitioner and the respondent during the course of the marriage have lived together at three different places for about 10 years before the respondent moved out of the matrimonial home. The marriage produced three children.

The petitioner alleged that his wife had been having illicit affair with Frank Mba, the party cited even while she was still living in the matrimonial home.

The petitioner holds that the marriage has broken down irretrievably and his efforts and effort of families and religious leaders to resolve the dispute have been unsuccessful. Consequently, the petition seeks the following court orders:

The dissolution of the marriage and the custody of the children of the marriage.

An order of the court compelling Frank Mba, the person cited, to pay the petitioner the sum of N20 million as damages for breaking up his marriage and the order of the court o order Frank Mba to pay the cost of this suit.

However, in an affidavit sworn to by a legal practitioner, Matthew Okwuaniyi and filed before the court by law firm of Chioma Okwuanyi, the respondent urged the court to strike out the petition for the dissolution of the marriage for being an abuse of the process of the court.

The Deponent averred that he is aware that before now, the petitioner had instituted an action against the respondent for the same dissolution of marriage as it is also constituted in the present petition.

Mr. Okwuanyi also averred that the earlier petition as constituted in suit number ID/82HD/2011 is still pending before the high court, Ikeja, and therefore referred to the current petition as incompetent as same is an abuse of the process of the court. He therefore urged the court to strike it out.

Frank Mba is yet to enter any appearance or file any defence.