He derives pleasure in beating me and then force me to bed after”, says a housewife, Abosede Balogun. In her evidence in chief at an Orile Agege Grade ‘B’ Customary Court, Lagos where she pleaded for the dissolution of her 15-year-old marriage to Jamiu Balogun, she alleged desertion and frequent beating.
The 32- year- old woman, of 3, Owolewa Street, Orile-Agege, said her husband behaves like animal, adding that he used to beat her severely whenever she asked for feeding allowance. ”He also abandoned my children and I, and came back after one year,”she said.
The mother of three told the court that Jamiu came back only to take the children and not to make peace.
”He promised to take the children away from me, because another woman he married could not give him children.”I can’t release my children to a tout,a smoker and a womaniser. I don’t want them to take after their father. I plead with the court to grant me the custody of the children,” she said
The 40 year old man, who lives at 3, Salimotu Street, Orile-Agege, denied the allegations. He said, “I have always loved and cared for my family, I am a responsible father though I might be troublesome. ”I never deserted her. I only ran fro her trouble for a while. I don’t beat her always, I only do whenever she curses me,”he said.
Balogun, a driver with Lagos State Emergency Agency, LASEMA, also told the court that he still loved his wife and did not support the dissolution because he did not want his children to suffer. Meanwhile, the Court President, Mr Joseph Adewusi, told the couple to maintain the peace and adjourned the case till Jan. 24 for further hearing.