A 38 year-old housewife, Jumoke Bamgbola have been accused of beating her husband Niyi Adeyemo, 39, to pulp during a disagreement bothering on demand by the wife for separation.
The duo lives on Love-All Street, Ikosi-Ketu, Lagos State.
The husband, Adeyemo, a Sickle Cell Anemia patient is said to be recuperating at an undisclosed hospital in the area following the alleged assault, which happened on Monday.
The marriage which was contracted in 2018 barely survived a year, as the union was said to have hit the rock in 2019.
Adeyemo, who spoke with Punch Correspondent from hospital bed said his marriage crashed after his mother visited their home and his wife objected to the visit becayse she did not like his family members visiting them. The disagreement was so serious that it led to separation.
He said his wife’s demand for divorce was so intense when she returned from Dubai in January 2022 and took him up at will.
He said: “Bamgbola stormed my house on May 30, 2022, around 11 am and asked me why I had not been picking her lawyer’s phone calls. I refused to respond and she said that I must takj to her because she came prepared for me.
“I tried walking away from her, but she dragged me back and tore my cloth, a native attire specially sewn for my late mum’s bural and became violent.
“She started throwing ounches at me all over my body, especialy on my legs because she is aware of my health condition. She tossed me around the house and kept saying that she would make sure I ended up at the hospital.
She also dragged my private parts and bit my hand as I tried to prevent her from biting my manhood. I deliberately stopped myself from hitting her like I was advised, so I telephoned her dad and put it on phone speaker; her dad called out her name, but she refused to respond or listen to him.
“Her dad asked me to leave the house but I couldn’t, as she had locked my neck with my torn clothes and said tat I must give her a divorce. I passed out as a result of the severe pain and later found myself at the hospital.
“My wife’s demand for a divorce became intene when she arrived from Dubai early this year. While she was in Dubai, we resolved our differences through video calls and made plans to relocate from when I stayed. But she suddenly changed and began comparing me with another man she met over there.
“She returned in January and requested that she lodge at a hotel in the Lekki area of Lagos so as to self isolate because of he COVID-19 to avoid infecting our son with the virus. Apparently, she back to Nigeria with her boyfriend with whom she had arranged to spend the period in the hotel.
“I telephoned her several times, but she refused to receive my calls and when I used other peoples mobile phones to call her she cut off the calls after hearing my voice.
“She once called me and said only our son bound us together and threatened to take away our son. She later threatened to kill me with her bare hands if I didn’t give her a divorce because her boyfriend said that he could not marry someone who was married with a child.
“The matter has been reported at the Ketu Police Station but she is yet to be arrested as she has gone into hiding.”
But during a telephone chat with Punch, Bamgbola said she she had filed for divorce and her husband had been duly served the notice as he refused to appear in court.
She said: “I went to the court on Monday to see the lawyer and he complained that my husband had not been picking his calls and neither was he picking calls from my mum as well. When I called him, he started pleading with me that he did not want a divorce and that he had been suffering from anger disorder.
“He admitted that he allowed a third party in our marriage and that he was sorry. The lawyer told me that I had to see my husband and make him understand what I wanted because of our only child.
“So I went to his place and met another lady with him in the kitchen. I asked for us to talk and asked why he refused to receive the lawyer’s calls and why he was telling people that he gave me N1.5m to rent an apartment, but he denied.
“I actually visited to inform him that the court had fixed June 28, 2022 for our divorce case and discuss matter with him if we could settle the dispute amicably. He usually beat me but I always try not to hit him back because he is a sickle cell patient.
“We ended up fighting and I was equally admitted into a hospital t Ijoko area because I had a swollen face and bruises all over my body and could hardly talk for days. I visited the same Ketu Police Station to report a missing Samsung flip Z3 phone that I lost in his house and paid N1,000 at the station for the report. The Police Station later reached out to me yesterday (Tuesday), that my husband had filed a case of assault against me and I replied that I would visit the station on Sunday when I get better” The State Police Public Relations Officer Benjamin Hundeyin sought to be given some time to confirm the incident when Punch put a telephone call to him.