An Upper Area Court in Gwagwalada, Abuja, has dissolved a 15-year marriage between Okpanachi Yahaya, a public servant, and his estranged wife, Zainab Adejoh, due to infidelity.
Following Yahaya’s petition for divorce on grounds of infidelity, the Judge, Malam Abdullahi Abdulkareem, dissolved the marriage according to Islamic Law.
Abdulkareem ordered Adejoh to observe a three-month “Iddah” (waiting period) according to Islamic law before entering into another marriage.
He also stated that the petitioner’s request for child custody should be filed as a separate suit.
Previously, the petitioner told the court that he married the respondent under Islamic law on September 14, 2019, and that they have two children, ages 14 and 12.
He stated that he became aware of the respondent’s extramarital affairs in 2019.
“I saw Adejoh hiding in the kitchen talking to another man and when I interrogated her, she assaulted me physically and verbally,” Yahaya said.
He said that he had been sick in the last four months, hospitalised and eventually taken to his village in Kogi but the respondent never visited him and continued her illicit relationships.
He said the respondent went to his office while he was away in the village and collected money on his behalf without his consent.
Yahaya said that it was discovered according to his native law and custom that the root of his ailment was the respondent’s illicit relationships with other men.
“Adejoh was invited by my kinsmen for a peaceful resolution regarding our dispute but she declined.
“There is no more love and peace in the marriage, I want the marriage dissolved, ” he said.
The respondent, however, consented to the divorce.
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