‘Despite sending love messages to her lover, my wife threatened me with knife for dating two of my church members’ – Ibadan man

An Ibadan man, Gbolahan, has filed for divorce at the Mapo Grade Customary Court after nine turbulent years of marriage, citing his wife Sarah’s alleged infidelity with a tricycle driver, knife threats, and relentless public humiliation — while himself admitting to dating two female church members.

A Grade Customary Court sitting at Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State, is now hearing a divorce suit that has everything — infidelity, knife threats, church romance, and four house relocations in eight years. The plaintiff, Gbolahan, wants out of his nine-year union with wife Sarah, and he’s pulling no punches in his reasons why.

According to Gbolahan, the trouble started when Sarah allegedly began a romantic relationship with a tricycle driver, sending him affectionate messages regularly. But Gbolahan — who openly admitted in court to simultaneously dating two female members of his church — says things turned dangerous when Sarah found out.

“She fought with me continuously after she discovered that I was dating two ladies in my church. She also threatened me with a knife on several occasions because of this,” he testified.

The knife threats, he says, eventually forced him out of their matrimonial home entirely.

And the chaos wasn’t confined to their household. Sarah’s alleged quarrelsomeness with neighbours, Gbolahan claims, caused the family to pack up and relocate four times across eight years.

“I got fed up with constantly settling quarrels between her and our neighbours,” he told the court.

He also accused Sarah of wrecking two businesses he established for her due to an extravagant lifestyle, and of neglecting the welfare of their three children.

“She neglects our children’s welfare, which is the reason they permanently look unkempt,” Gbolahan stated, while requesting custody of two of the three children and unrestricted access to the third.

Sarah denied all allegations but — pointedly — said she too was willing to end the marriage.

Court President Mrs. S. M. Akintayo adjourned proceedings for the defence to present its case.

It’s worth noting: the man seeking protection from a knife-wielding wife was also dating two women from his own congregation. In this courtroom, nobody’s hands are entirely clean.