A 19-year marriage between Mr. John Adeyemi and his wife, Oluwakemi, has been dissolved by an Ekiti High Court in Ido-Ekiti, Ekiti State, due to irreconcilable disagreements.
The Justice Johnson Apuabi dissolution of their marriage was based on desertion, lack of affection, and irreconcilable differences, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
According to Apuabi’s ruling, the petitioner has satisfied the court of the requirements under Sections 152(c) and (d) of the Matrimonial Causes Act “in accordance with the evidence submitted in proof and support of the petition for the dissolution of the marriage between the petitioner and respondent.”
He said that the petitioner has given evidence of the “incredible intuitive and provocative attitude of the respondent.”
The judge stated that it was true that the respondent had cut off all contact with the petitioner and declined to travel to Nigeria to live with him.
According to Apuabi, the parties will be living apart beginning on November 17, 2020, until the divorce petition is filed, as a result of the respondent’s decision to remain in the USA.
“It is obvious from the affidavit of admission of facts stated in the petition deposed to by the respondent that she was ready for the dissolution of the marriage between her and the petitioner,” he said.
Justice Apuabi, therefore, pronounced dissolution of the marriage between the petitioner and respondent.
He ruled that the “decree nisi” shall be made absolute at the expiration of three months subject to the provision of Section 57(1) (a) of the Matrimonial Causes Act and unless sufficient cause is shown to the court within the period why it should not be made absolute.
Apuabi granted the respondent custody of the petitioner’s three children from the marriage, who are now ages 18, 16, and 10 respectively, since he had agreed to provide her custody in his petition.
He commanded the respondent to grant the petitioner unrestricted contact to their children through phone or visit, provided the petitioner gives the respondent adequate notice before any intended visit.
Apuabi commanded the petitioner to participate as expected in the upbringing and wellbeing of the kids and to make financial contributions as needed.
The court had previously been informed by the petitioner, Mr. John Adeyemi, that Oluwakemi, the respondent, was his wife.
Adeyemi said that they got married at the Cathedral Church of St. Philips, Ayetoro, Ile-Ife, on February 8, 2003.
He named Exibit P1, the certificate that was tendered and admitted as evidence of his marriage to the respondent.
The respondent and the petitioner cohabitated following their marriage from February 8, 2003 until April 16, 2019, after which they moved to the United States of America, according to the petitioner’s testimony.
He claims that from April 16, 2019, until November 16, 2020, when the petitioner returned to Nigeria, they cohabitated in the USA.
Adeyemi said that after the respondent declined his invitation to join him in Nigeria, they have been living apart ever since.
Three children—two male and one female—were born into their marriage, according to him.
The petitioner informed the court that the respondent had consistently acted provocatively and unusually toward him, particularly in regards to the subject of her moving to Nigeria, and that she had been refusing to interact with him for a year.
He continued by saying that the respondent does not return his calls and that it is possible that she has switched phone numbers.
Given that the respondent’s children have been residing with her in the United States of America, the petitioner relinquished custody of the children from the marriage to the respondent.
He said that he was prepared to take on the role of a father in ensuring the wellbeing and upbringing of their children.
At the conclusion of the testimony, the petitioner’s attorney, Mr. Rotimi Adabembe, brought the court’s attention to the respondent’s affidavit of admission of facts contained in the petition, which was sworn to in the court’s registry on June 14, 2022.
The attorney requested that the court allow the couple’s divorce after taking into account the evidence presented to it and the respondent’s affidavit of acceptance of petition facts.
