Man, 71, seeks dissolution of 47-year-old marriage over sex denial

After 47 years of marriage, a 71-year-old mechanic, Mr Mojidi Osho, approached an Igando Customary Court in Lagos on Wednesday to nullify his marriage because his wife denied him sex.

The petitioner said that his wife, Tolu, with whom he had 10 children in marriage denied him his matrimonial right to sleep with her.

“The last time my wife allowed me to sleep with her was 10 years ago.

“I am starving seriously but whenever I come home with my girlfriends, she will chase them away,’’ Osho said.

The septuagenarian accused his wife of threatening to kill him so that she can inherit his property.

“My wife wanted to kill me; she has been feeding me with poison.

“There was a day I fainted and was rushed to the hospital and it was detected that I ate poison.

“I thought I will not survive it but God saved me and I stopped eating her food.’’

The embattled man said his wife was a witch.

“My wife keeps attacking me in the spiritual realm.

“On two occasions, she shot arrows at me in my sleep which lead to sicknesses but God healed me.

“She also buried charm in my workshop and customers stopped patronising me.

“My wife makes me impotent but I later survived it after spending huge amount in the hospital and herbal treatment.

“Tolu makes my life miserable, I would have gone far in life if I have not married her.

“I regretted the day I met her and I wish I can turn the hand of the clock,’’ he said.

According to him, Tolu stops washing his clothes 27 years ago.

He begged the court to end the marriage to save him from committing murder.

Responding to the allegations, the 67-year-old trader, Tolu, said that she denied her husband sex for only four years not 10 years as he claimed.

“I stopped him from making love to me four years ago when he started bringing different girls home to sleep with, after which he will want to sleep with me; so I refused him,’’ the wife told the court.

The mother of 10 children denied threatening her husband’s life to kill by poisoning.

“I did not poison my husband’s food since 1973 when we got married, is it now that I will poison him?

“He is just looking for excuses to discard me, he came to this court to divorce his second wife now he wanted to also divorce me so that he can marry a new wife.’’

According to her, Osho is fond of invoking curses on their children, which is affecting their lives now.

The respondent begged the court not to grant her husband’s wish for the dissolution of their marriage saying she still loved him.

The court president, Mr Adeniyi Koledoye, adjourned the case until Feb. 18, 2021, for judgment.