Wife Laments: ‘My Husband Gives Me N100 to Feed Myself and Two Children’

Who do we hug and who do we slap?

I just dug out this divorce case i once covered between a man and his wife. Kindly read through the case and decide who we send a slap to and who we send a hug to between the husband and the wife.

Here was what transpired in court between the former lovebirds:

Frustrated by her husband’s insistence to starve her and their two children of food, Mrs. Shakirat Amodu has dragged her hubby, Mr. Amodu Sodik before a Lagos court seeking dissolution of their 7-year-old marriage, which is blessed with two children.

Mrs. Amodu, a 28-year-old petty trader, told the court that her husband constantly engages her in constant fighting and that the marriage has lost the glamour and splendour expected of a matrimonial union. 

“Sometimes, he gives me just N100 for the feeding of three of us and may be himself.  He is only keen on paying the children’s school fees and does not care much about our feeding. My husband is always fighting with me for no just cause.  I want the marriage dissolved and the custody of the children granted me,” Mrs. Amodu said.

Responding to the allegations, Mr. Amodu said, “I have been trying my best to take care of the family but my wife is very harsh, rude and troublesome."

He refuted the accusation of bashing his wife without any just cause saying “my wife is always beating the children like animals to the extent that our neighbours are always surprised and express doubt about the motherhood of the children.  If I try to correct her, she would flare up and it always results to quarrels and fights.”

The respondent came to court with two of his relatives as witnesses who testified that they have been liaising with their in-laws to ensure the amicable settlement of the misunderstanding and would not wish the dissolution of the marriage. “We have pleaded with our in-laws and wife to be patient as his financial condition will surely improve but they are not cooperating with us,” they lamented.

Since Mrs. Amodu’s parents were in support of the dissolution of the marriage, the court ordered the marriage dissolved. “The marriage has broken down completely and since the relations are in support of the dissolution and there is no law which enforces forced marriage. The marriage is hereby dissolved. The first child will remain with his father while the second child should be with his mother.  Mr. Amodu will be paying the sum of N1, 500 monthly for the upkeep of the child,” the court pronounced.

That was how the case was decided. Again, i ask, if you were to send a slap and hug to either the man or the woman, who would you send what to?