Drama in court as couple fights over house keys – TheNigerialawyer

There was a mild drama at the Customary Court, Agege, Lagos on
Tuesday after a wife refused to release the house keys to her
husband on the order of the court.

The husband, Otunba Fatunwase Aderemi, who is the petitioner, is
begging the court to dissolve his marriage to Esther Aderemi and
grant his request to take custody of his 6-year-old daughter.

The husband, at the last hearing also begged the court to order
his wife to allow him access to the house since he paid the
rent.

The court denied the petitioner’s request to take the child into
his custody as the child was still very young and ordered the
respondent to release the house keys to the husband pending the
outcome of the matter.

At today’s hearing, the husband told the court that his wife
flouted all orders given to them and had continued to make more
trouble with him.

In her response, Esther, a resident of 4 Nova road, Folayo Bus
stop, Iyana Orile-Agege said she changed her mind to give her
husband access to the house because she did not trust him anymore
and that he could plant something in the house behind her.

Esther also said she once paid the house rent when they were
living together.

In her words: “I can’t give him the key and I can’t leave his
house. He once lived with me for nine years in the house I paid
for.

“What if I give him key and he went to drop a dead body in the
house and implicate me? It’s true I pledged to give him the key at
the last hearing but I can’t do that. Besides, he has told me in
January to tell my children to be paying for the house rent
henceforth.”

The court’s President, Mrs. Patricia Adeyanju, who was not happy
with the new development ordered the defendant to produce the key
before the court or face arrest.

“Are you telling the court we are foolish? You have just made a
fool of yourself, this is a court order that is beyond anybody. You
agreed with us at the last hearing and now you are saying another
thing,” Adeyanju said.

“If there is somebody to send to and bring the key, send them
now because you’re not leaving this court today,” Adeyanju
ordered.

After submitting the key to the court, Adeyanju warned the
petitioner that nothing must happen to the respondent.

In his response, the petitioner said he has given the court
enough time to make the decision on their matter but that it was
high he started taking actions since the respondent had continued
to flout the court’s orders.

“My lords, as you can see her behaviour in court, then you can
imagine what I face at home with her. I refused to live in that
house not because I feared her but because the court has told us to
make peace. She won’t make peace with me.

“After I get my keys, I’m going to start living in that house
and I am going to bring another woman in there because she cannot
cook for me and I am too old to go to the kitchen, so someone must
cook for me,” he said.

The courtroom became rowdy as the woman threatened to cause
mayhem in the house if the petitioner brought in another woman.

The court’s President, however, told the petitioner not to bring
in another woman into the house but that he could negotiate the
time the respondent would move out.

She said, “You can’t bring more confusion into this matter. You
can’t bring in another wife into that house, what you can do is to
negotiate the time you are going to give her before she moves out.
Also, If you’re divorcing your wife, you have to provide
accommodation for her pending the outcome of the case.

In her ruling, the court’s President ordered the petitioner not
to bring in another woman into the house and also mandated him to
provide accommodation for the respondent and her daughter when the
time comes.

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