Judiciary
AN FCT High Court, Maitama, on Tuesday dissolved a four-year-old marriage due to the husband’s desertion of the wife.
The Judge, Justice Jude Okeke delivering judgment in divorce petition filed by Chiamaka Udeozor against Ikechukwu Udeozor held that the marriage has broken down irretrievably.
He ruled that following the evidence given by the petitioner, the respondent constructively deserted the petitioner by his conduct.
Okeke noted that the evidence given by the petitioner showed that the respondent severally subjected the petitioner to physical and verbal abuses.
“He was temperamental and at the slightest misunderstanding he could resort to beating her and would not communicate with her.”
Okeke noted also that all these resulted to the couple living in a different rooms and the petitioner went through trauma, which had led to two miscarriages.
The judge observed also that on the account of all these quarrels and state of affairs, the petitioner contemplated committing suicide and was constrained to leave the matrimonial home in 2016.
Okeke noted that the respondent failed to appear in the court nor give his own side of evidence to contradict the evidence of the petitioner, even when he was given the opportunities to do so.
The judge, however, held that in the light of the foregoing findings, the court resolves the sole issue mentioned above in favour of the petitioner.
“The petition, therefore, succeeds on the ground that the respondent deserted the petitioner.
“It is declared that the marriage the petitioner contracted with the respondent on Dec. 19, 2014 at the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) Marriage Registry has broken down irretrievably.
“Since that marriage, the respondent has deserted the petitioner for a continuous period of one year,” he held.
