Olawale Busari, a father of four, told a Mapo Customary Court in Ibadan on Monday to dissolve his 23-year-old marriage to his estranged wife, Sekinat. He alleged that Sekinat had been responsible for his economic and spiritual retardation, using voodoo. In his testimony before Chief Ademola Odunade, the president of the court, Busari who resides at Ojoo area in Ibadan, said that his wife had been buoyant while he had been suffering setbacks in spite of all of his efforts. He added that he had a very profitable occupation with fantastic incomes only for things to change for the worse. “When I was going around seeking spiritual remedy, I got to know that Sekinat had exchanged her glory with mine. “When I was searching the house recently, I came across various gory sites of voodoo in the house. “She planted some in the roof and some inside ceramic dishes concealed in our wardrobe. “As somebody with good Islamic background, I saw all these as evil plots against me,’’ he said. Busari added that he invited their children to witness everything so that they could confirm their mother’s diabolic attitude towards him. Sekinat, however, opposed the suit and denied the allegation of retarding her husband’s progress. She stated that the voodoo her husband was complaining about was kept in the house to ward of armed robbers. “My lord, Busari is aware that thieves usually come to disturb our house to the extent that they take money and other things from us in addition to threatening us with guns. “That was the reason why I consulted a marabou who gave me some voodoo to prevent them from further terrorising us. “All I know is that Busari’s mother doesn’t like me; she was the one who told her son to file this suit. “I know that he has married another wife, but for the sake of my children, please don’t separate us,’’ Sekinat pleaded. In his judgment, Odunade held that the court had no other option than to dissolve the union since there was no peace between the duo. He dissolved the union accordingly and awarded custody of the three most senior of the children to Busari and the fourth one to Sekinat. The arbitrator ordered Busari to pay N4,000 to Sekinat monthly as the fourth child’s upkeep and also fund her education and other welfare needs.

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