An herb dealer, Rofiat Biliameen, has petitioned a Mapo Customary Court in Ibadan, Oyo State to dissolve her two and a half-year-old marriage to estranged husband, Ahmed Biliameen.
Rofiat is seeking the divorce on grounds of deception and distrust.
Rofiat, a resident of Ayegun-Olomi area in Ibadan, gave the evidence before Chief Ademola Odunade, the court’s President, on Tuesday in Ibadan.
She told the court that her husband was also blackmailing and threatening to kill her.
She said her husband lacked moral integrity in the community and would not mind if she goes bankrupt despite being her family’s breadwinner.
“Around 2018, when I was looking for an apartment to rent, I informed Ahmed as one of the landlords at Ayegun-Olomi.
“He promised to get me an apartment, which he did.
“However, he soon started wooing me because, according to him, nobody would give an apartment to an unmarried woman in that community.
“So, I agreed to marry him, but he started collecting my money ever since then.
“Biliameen is owing me nothing less than N175,000, being the money I borrowed him for a ceremony and the construction of a container shop.
“Besides, he has been threatening to kill me as I recently came across the voodoo he planted under my mattress.”
Rofiat tendered all the documents containing the monetary transactions and the mobile phone conversation she had as exhibits against Biliameen.
However, the respondent denied all the allegations levelled against him, describing his wife as a mere opportunist.
Biliameen, who earns his livelihood as a night watch, insisted that he did not owe his wife any kobo.
He said: “It is true that I wooed Rofiat, but I willingly constructed the container shop for her.
“I never collected any money from her for giving her two plots of land, but she keeps making all attempts to steal away with my property when I am not around.
“When I saw that Rofiat does not wish me well, I decided that I would no longer continue in the marriage with her since we haven’t got any child together.
“This is the reason why she wanted to run away with my property.”
In his ruling, Odunade ordered both parties to produce the chairman, secretary and treasurer of the landlord association in their community to shed more light on the matter.
He adjourned the case until February 11 for judgment.
