My wife accused me of using “juju’’ to marry her, Pastor tells court

A Lagos pastor’s 19-year-old marriage has hit the rocks following the dissolution of the union by the court afters the pastor alleged that his wife accused him of using charms to marry her. The 50-year-old Pastor Idowu Abiola has finally separated from his wife, Esther, who accused him of being fetish and marrying her with ‘juju.’

An Alimosho Customary Court on Tuesday gave the order after the pastor had sued for divorce on grounds of defamation of character. The court’s President, Alhaja S.O. Mumuni, in her judgment, said it was obvious from available testimonies and the respondent’s refusal to appear in court that the marriage had hit the rocks.

“Throughout the duration of this case, the respondent refused to honour the court’s invitation; therefore, the court has no other choice than to dissolve the marriage. “The marriage between Idowu Abiola and Esther Abiola is hereby dissolved from today in accordance with the Lagos State Customary Law, 2013, Cap.19.

“Both parties are no longer husband and wife, they are free to marry any partner of their choice without any hindrance or molestation,” she ruled. “My wife accused me of using “juju’’ to marry her when she saw a fetish object I recovered from a church member after a deliverance session and which I intended to burn.

“She moved out of the house five years ago to an unknown destination, claiming that I married her with charms. “I called her family to inform them of her action and they promised to talk to her and plead with her to come back, but up till now she has refused to come back, “he said.

Abiola accused his wife, who had failed to appear in court after several summonses of attempting to kidnap their children on two occasions. He added:“First, she came to the house without my knowledge and absconded with our three children.

“I received a tipoff from a neighbor and I rushed down. I saw them at a bus stop and rescued my children.
“After that attempt failed, she went to their school with a bus and a policeman to `kidnap’ the children but the school authority prevented her and called me.’’

The pastor said in January 2010, his daughter gave him a paper she saw on the floor while sweeping which revealed that his wife would remarry in April 2010. “Before my wife packed out, I saw the paper in which she wrote that she will remarry by April, she also wrote in that paper the name of the man she will be getting married to.

“I confronted her but she did not deny it. True to her words by April that same year, she moved out of the house.”
The petitioner tendered the paper as evidence in the court. The father of three said that a week after his wife packed out of the house, she returned to destroy his property.

“My wife damaged my window net and louvers, entered my house, tore all my clothes and destroyed all the photographs we took together including the ones I took with the children.” He pleaded with the court to dissolve the marriage since he was tired of waiting and that he would want to move on life.