What Abeokuta High Chief use for oath-taking in court will surprise you

An Egba top traditionalist, Chief Falola Olomade Adisa, on Tuesday rejected in court the two Holy Books of the Bible and Qur’an to swear, saying he preferred to swear with an iron rod, which represents the Yoruba god of iron (Sango) as hearing commenced on the divorce suit he had instituted against his wife, Omolara Adisa.

The clerk of the Abeokuta, Ogun State, Customary Grade II Court, sitting at Ake, Mr Adesina, had to sprint out of the courtroom to get an iron rod nearby outside the court premises, on the order of the court president, Chief Olalekan Akande, to administer the oath on the traditionalist.

Adisa, who identified himself as the Osanyin Babalawo Egba (top Abeokuta herbalist chief) is praying the court to dissolve the marriage on grounds of provocation, frequent fighting, threat to his life and lack of care for the children, all against Omolara, a mother of four.

Two other traditional chiefs and a sister to Omolara were present in court yesterday as witnesses.

Adisa, after he had been sworn on oath with the iron rod, maintained that the 16-year-old marriage had broken down irretrievably on his claims above, and, particularly, after allegations and certain steps he said were taken against him that he masterminded an attack on his father-in-law.

“I spent about six months at both the Adatan and Eleweran police divisions for an offence I knew nothing about. She just came one night with four policemen to say that I was the one she suspected to have sent attackers on her father. But, later, I personally discovered that the marriage of her father (a man of over 70 years) to a Fulani woman caused the problem because those people felt cheated and had threatened to deal with him.

“She  is just too troublesome that at another stage again, she accused her stepson of belonging to a cult group, which led to the arrest of the innocent boy,”  the Egba chief said, adding that Omolara had left his home since October 7, 2017.

But in her defence, Omolara claimed that the major disagreement between them began over a parcel of land she bought, alleging her husband wanted but she refused. “He always believed that my father was behind my actions and always threatened to kill him in order to have full control of me. That was why I told the police that he was the person I suspected,” she said.

Omolara boasted that contrary to her husband’s outward manly posture, he was always coming back to beg her, “pleading that all his actions against me were not done intentionally and I should forgive him.”

The two Egba traditional chiefs and Omolara’s sister, Adedamola Olugbade, who were called as witnesses, sought the intervention of the court for an amicable settlement on the quarrel between the couple.

The court president, Chief Akande, urged the warring parties to go back home to reconcile and make peace, saying it was evident they could still come back together in harmony.

He adjourned the suit till March 7, 2018.