My wife is a serial divorcee, I am her 5th husband – Man tells court

Rufus Otegbola urged the court to dissolve his marriage as his wife is adulterou and he is her 5th husband

A man identified a Rufus Otegbola, on Wednesday told an Igando Customary Court, Lagos, that his wife, Funmilayo, is a serial divorcee and that he is the 5th husband that she will be getting married to.

The 47-year-old businessman urged the court to dissolve his 13-year-old marriage to Funmilayo for alleged adulterous acts, as she seems not to be contented with just a single man in her life.

According to him:

“My wife is adulterous and a serial divorcee, she had married and divorced four husbands before I married her.

“Funmilayo is diabolical and fetish, she always comes home with charms and my fear is that she may kill me one day if I do not end the marriage.”

Rufus said that his wife packed out of their matrimonial home without his consent.

“My parent-in-law and my wife’s siblings came to my house to pack my wife’s property without my permission.”

He however prayed to the court to dissolve the marriage as he is not interested anymore in the union.

In her response, Funmilayo, 42, and a businesswoman, said that her husband was an unrepentant polygamist.

“My husband deceived me. He did not tell me that he had three wives before marrying me. He impregnated me and hurried me into his house without legal marriage. I discovered that he already had three wives living with him and there was nothing I could do since I was pregnant, I had to stay.”

Funmilayo said that Rufus had also turned her into a punching bag.

“My husband beats me all time and even when I was pregnant, he beats hell out of me; I fell into labour immediately, forcing the delivery of the baby.

“As a result of the frequent beating, on May 9, 2016, I packed my belongings from his house and moved to my parent’s house.”

Funmilayo further described Rufus as an ungrateful person.

“When he lost his job, I was the one feeding him with his wives and their children and I was also paying the school fees of our children and my step children.”

The mother of four, however, consented to the dissolution of the marriage, saying “I am also fed up with the union”.

In his judgment, the President of the court, Mr Akin Akinniyi, noted that the estranged couple were tired of the marriage as all efforts to reconcile them had failed.

“Since both parties consented to the dissolution of their marriage, this court has no choice than to dissolve the marriage.

“The court pronounced the marriage between Mr Rufus Otegbola and Mrs Funmilayo Otegbola dissolved today, both parties henceforth ceased to be husband and wife.

“Both are free to go their separate way without any hindrances and molestation,” Akinniyi ruled.