‘I  beat my wife because of her lover’s text message’

Lagos – A trader, Mr Kayode Eremiye, 46, on Wednesday said he beat up his wife when he discovered a text message another man sent to her on “the good time” they had together.

Eremiye was responding before an Agege Customary Court, Lagos, in a suit brought by his wife, Adedoyin, seeking dissolution of their 11-year-old marriage on the grounds of battery and adultery.

“I was mad on the day I saw a message sent to her phone by her lover, revealing how he made passionate love to her.

“My wife is adulterous and always keeps late nights; there are countless love text messages on her phone,” he said.

Eremiye, however, told the court that in spite of the problem, he still loved his wife dearly and did not want a divorce.

“She is the love of my life and I still love her very much; she loves me and I know it but she is just confused.

“There was a day I saw a text she sent to her lover that if he did not want her anymore, he should allow her return to her problem at home.

“Despite the fact that she has packed out of my house, we still see secretly; she still sleeps in my house without the knowledge of our families.

“I still love her and I want the court to plead with her on my behalf,” he said.

The petitioner, Adedoyin, who lives at 11, Abeokuta St., Ogba, Lagos, had told the court that her husband used planks to beat her.

Adedoyin said that her husband also caned her and was not taking care of their two children aged 10 and 14.

“My husband is too jealous; he always felt insecure, trailing my movement and monitoring me whenever I went out or to work.

“Anytime I made the mistake of getting home at (as late as) 7:00 p.m., I was severely beaten and was not allowed to sleep in the house.

“My husband once beat me up when I was six months pregnant,” she said.

The petitioner also claimed that her husband kept chains of girlfriends and she knew them.

“Some of them threatened me on phone, while one even claimed she had a child for him,’’ she said.

The Court President, Mr Emmanuel Sokunle, told the couple to maintain the peace and adjourned the case till April 8 for further hearing. (NAN)