9-year-old marriage to be divorced over constant public battering

                                                       
A petitioner, Mrs Jumoke Ojo, who claimed that her husband had been convicted of wife beating before on Thursday begged an Akure Customary Court to dissolve her marriage of nine years.

The petitioner told the court that her alleged convicted husband, Lanre Ojo, had turned her into "a punching bag’’ anytime she was sighted in public.

"His assaulting me was what warranted him to be sentenced to two and half years in prison,’’ she told the court.
She also begged the court to restrain the defendant from coming near her again.

"He does not play any fatherly role to our two children and does not pay their school fees,’’ the petitioner said.

The President of the Court, Mr Bankole Obateru, said that the petitioner should ensure that Lanre, the respondent, was in court at the next adjournment.

"You must device the means of informing the defendant to appear in court or else his failure to appear will cause this court to give its judgment,’’ Obateru said.

The court adjourned the case to Sept.16 for judgment.