“My wife, Mary, encourages my son to drink and smoke Indian hemp,’’ a 66-year-old pastor, Vincent Omojeya, told an Igando Customary Court in Lagos State on Thursday.
Omojeya, the petitioner, begged the court to dissolve his 36-year-old marriage to his wife, Mary, 58, saying that he was no longer in love with her.
The pastor said that he did not want to live under the same roof with them as they might kill him.
He told the court that his wife whom he married 36 years ago, was the one that destroyed his son’s life by not cautioning him anytime he erred.
“My wife always ignores my son whenever he does wrong things; my son does not sleep in the house, he drinks a lot and smokes Indian hemp heavily in my house.
“And anytime I try to scold him, my wife will not allow me,’’ he said.
The pastor said that Mary was also fond of instigating his children against him, especially his only son to disrespect him.
“Anytime my wife and I are fighting, she will call my son and order him to beat me up in her presence.
“There was a day my son threatened to kill me, he brought out a knife with which he attempted to stab me in the stomach.
“My son also grabbed my neck but I had to prevent him from stabbing me and in the process the knife cut my hand.
“We were taken to the police station where the officers advised me to pack out of the house for my dear life or else my family members will kill me.
“I have packed out of the house for two years now and rented a room thus denying myself the comfort of the house I built with my money,’’ he told the court.
Omojeya also alleged that his son broke the wind screen of a car he had just bought on hire-purchase while his wife was there watching him.
However, the 58-year-old Mary Omojeya, in her defence, alleged that her husband was always cursing his family members anytime they offended him using the Holy Bible.
“My husband never prays for either the children or myself, rather he cursed us using the bible and assaulted us over any slight provocation,’’the mother of five said.
“My husband has a wire which he always uses to flog me and the children; he always fights with his friends, tenants and church members also.
“These always lead us to the police station for settlement,’’ she said Mary said that Vincent was an ingrate who had forgot that her mother and uncle sponsored the education of their children up to the university level.
Then, my husband was always complaining that he did not have money to sponsor our children’s education, she said.
Mary said that her husband removed the roof on their flat and
disconnected the wire that was supplying electricity to their flat thus throwing them into darkness.
She also accused her husband of disconnecting the pipes that supplied potable water to their apartment.
The development, she added, left the family to buy water for domestic purposes from unknown sources and fetching rain water anytime it rained.
She denied the accusation that their son was always fighting his father on her prompting.
Mary said that rather, their son was always protecting her from his father whenever my husband was beating me.
The respondent, however, begged the court not to grant her husband’s wish for the dissolution of their marriage, saying that she was still in love with her husband.
The President, Mr Hakeem Oyekan, adjourned the case to May 27 for further hearing.
