A middle-aged woman, Foluke Olayiwola, has dragged her husband Festus Olayiwola to an Ojo grade A Customary court, for allegedly putting pepper in her private part and also trying to strangulate her.
Foluke, a teacher said she met her husband in December 1989, and after they got married, they have being living together until 1996, when her husband started suspecting that she was having affair outside their matrimonial home. She accused him of always beating her up at every slightest provocation and inflicting injury on her face which she showed to the court.
She said that whenever Festus sees her discussing with any man, without knowing who the person is, he would always accuse her of sleeping with the man. “Each time I attended our landlord meetings, he would always accused me that I had gone to Be Intimate.”
Foluke, who resides at No 11, Obadiaya Street, in Ojo area of Lagos, said in 1996, she went to her sister’s place and after she returned from the journey, he accused her of having gone to Be Intimate with a man. “After much quarreling, I slept off and in the middle of the night, he put pepper in my womanliness and I was feeling hot in my private part. The next day, I ran away to meet my parents and he later came to explain that it was Chinese balm that he put in my womanliness.
“He continued with his accusation until in June 8, 2008, when he tied my neck with rope at night when I was asleep. Before then, I use to think that it was a dream and whenever I told him about it, he would say it is a dream, not knowing that it was real. Until that fateful day, at exactly 12.30am, when he first tied my neck and I was turning on the bed, thinking that it was a dream.
He quickly untied my neck. I looked at the time and saw that it was 12 ;30am in the morning, so I pretended to be sleeping. After sometime, when he thought I had slept deep, he took the rope again and started tying my neck with it, I still pretended to be asleep, as he was still tying my neck, I just opened my eyes and he was shocked. Then, I asked him why he wanted to kill me after all the suffering I have been going through in his house.
“He now prostrated on the ground and started begging me, he even asked the children to help him plead with me, to forgive him, that it is the work of Satan. I said in 1996, it was the work of Satan, today, in 2008, it is still the work of Satan.”
Continuing, Foluke, told the court that a times, when she wakes up, she would find knife on the bed beside her and whenever she asked him, he would say he doesn’t know how it got there. “I would call my son that made the bed and he would say he doesn’t know. My husband would always claim that his actions were spiritual.
I threatened to leave him severally but each time, he would plead that I stay because he cannot cope without me. Even when we relocated to a new compound, he continued with his accusations. The situation degenerated to an extent that he could not pay our son’s school fees. I brought him to court because of the continuous threats to my life not just because he cannot take care of me and the children,”she stated.
After listening to the petitioner’s evidence, the trial president, Bola Giwa, of Ojo grade A Customary Court, adjourned the next hearing of the matter, till December 4 2012, for the respondent, to give his evidence.