A woman, Monica Dike, has approached Oja Oba/Mapo Court C Customary Court, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State, to put to an end to the four-year-old relationship between her and her husband, Meltus Uzosike.
Monica cited dishonesty, deceit, among others, as reasons for seeking divorce.
The plaintiff explained that she was shocked when she discovered that her husband had been deceiving her all the while after she came across his chats with a lady he had introduced to her as his cousin via WhatsApp.
According to her, the chats not only revealed that they were lovers, but that they were planning to travel out of the country and would have gone last year but for the occurrence of Covid-19 pandemic which resulted in the suspension of international flights.
She also added that she contributed a meaningful sum towards the purchase of their property which included four plots of land but that her husband documented all these in his name only.
Monica, in addition to a demand for a divorce, also sought that the court addressed the issue of their property.
However, Meltus did not come to court despite being served a court summon and hearing at two different occasions.
Monica, giving her evidence, said: “My husband and I got married in January 2017. Before we had our traditional wedding, he asked me how much I had in my account and I told him I had almost a million naira while he had N500,000.
“We expended these sums on our traditional wedding, but to my surprise, he started behaving strangely after we got married.
“A few weeks into our marriage, Meltus coded his phone and refused that I know his PIN.
“He started brain-washing me with the idea of travelling out of the country for greener pasture but I showed no interest in it.
“He asked if I could raise the sum N7,000,000 or get a loan of the stated amount from my organisation, which is a financial institution and I refused.
“He introduced a woman to me before we got married as his aunt and her daughter as his cousin. I related with them as my in-laws and we got on well.
“We jointly bought some items from this woman when she was travelling to Australia and they were of good use to us.
“My husband and I both contributed towards buying some pieces of land. I had the larger share of the amount paid for these properties.
“We bought two plots of land in his hometown at the sum of N500,000. I was the one who provided the money while we jointly contributed towards the purchase of the other two plots located somewhere else.
“We both agreed to have our names documented on the papers of agreement, but to my surprise, only his name was put on them.
“I gave him N500,000 at another time to add to what he had for the purchase of our car but he again wrote only his name on the particulars.
“My lord, I discovered after this woman had left that she was in no way related to my husband. She and Meltus only came from the same state.
“My lord, this woman’s daughter who Meltus referred to as his cousin was actually his girlfriend. Unknown to me, my husband was dating and sleeping with her.
“Meltus would drop me in the office and go back and pick this lady. They would then go to their love nest to make love.
“People kept informing me of the duo’s atrocities but I refused to believe them because I loved and trusted my husband.
“I once became curious and discovered my husband’s pin number. I unlocked his phone while he was sleeping one night and went through his WhatsApp chats.
“My lord, I almost fainted when I discovered that my husband and his so-called cousin had perfected their plan to travel out and join the woman in Australia.
“They would have gone but for the non availability of flight due to the spread Covid-19 round the world.
“I accused him of deceiving and betraying me. He initially denied all that I said. We fought that night and he beat me to a pulp when he realised I had gone through his chats.
“I moved out of his house after this because I believe my life was no longer safe with him.
“My lord, I beg that this court end our relationship and rule that he returns to me, all the property we bought with my money,” the plaintiff said.
Ruling, the Court President, Chief Ademola Odunade, dissolved their union.