Date: 2013-01-12

Kwara - A drama took place on Friday at an Omu-Aran Area Court in Kwara as a couple engaged in an argument over the name of their first child.

The argument occurred during conclusion of hearing in a divorce suit filed by Esther Gbadeyan of the Oro town in Kwara whose marriage to Yinka was eventually dissolved. Esther, a court clerk, had filed the suit on Dec. 24, saying that she was no longer in her marriage to Yinka and that she was already in another relationship.

She had accused Yinka of irresponsibility, battery and lack of care. At the resumed hearing in the case, Esther submitted that the marriage contracted in 2003 was blessed with a boy and a girl whose names she gave as Odunayo, aged nine years and Praise, seven. In his response, Yinka said the first child’s name was Odunola and not Odunayo.

He told the court that he had a valid birth certificate of the boy to authenticate his claim. At that point, Esther interrupted and insisted that the boy’s name was Odunayo. This resulted in an argument between the couple, a development that compelled the judge, Abolade Banigbe, to stop the proceedings for a while. When the situation came under control, Yinka resumed his evidence with denial of all the allegations made by his wife.

He claimed that he once caught his wife in an illicit affair with another man in their matrimonial home.

"That incident led to a scuffle and I was hit with an object in the head in the process. My effrontery of having confronted the intruder infuriated my wife; hence, the reason for her filing for divorce,” he said.

Yinka urged the court to dissolve the union and grant him custody of the children. In his judgment, Banigbe reprimanded Esther for relating with another man without formally dissolving her marriage with Yinka.

"I will not deceive you; you are taking a risk. Should any man be killed or murdered as a result of your action or inaction in your home, you are on your own,” Banigbe warned. He held that evidence before the court showed that there was no love anymore between the couple.

"I have no other options than to dissolve the marriage,’’ he said. The judge, however, advised Yinka to file an application for custody of the children at the appropriate court.