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An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ikere Ekiti has dissolved the marriage between an evangelist, Bayo Famoroti, and his estranged wife, Motunrayo, over serial domestic violence and cruelty suffered by the woman in his hands for over 16 years in the matrimony.
Justice Oyinkansola Oluboyede, who delivered the judgment, said the petitioner (Motunrayo) has succeeded in proving the case of domestic violence against Famoroti, an evangelist in Ekiti Diocese of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), beyond a reasonable doubt.
The judge held that the petition filed by Motunrayo succeeded and was granted, while Famoroti’s cross-petition failed and was consequently dismissed, bringing an end to the case that lasted two-and-a-half years in court.
Justice Oluboyede in her judgment ordered that the marriage which was celebrated on 21st November, 2009, be dissolved, having been broken down irretrievably because the Respondent/Cross-Petitioner (Famoroti) has behaved in such a way that the Petitioner/Cross-Respondent (Motunrayo) cannot be reasonably expected to live with him
The court granted the custody of the two children of the marriage to Motunrayo, while Famoroti was granted what the court referred to as “supervised access” to the children by being allowed to visit the children either in the home of the petitioner or at an earlier agreed location.
The court equally ordered that Famoroti shall continue to be responsible for the education of the children of the marriage, and in addition, pay a monthly sum of N30,000 for their upkeep, while the petitioner shall be mainly responsible for their maintenance and necessities, including their medical expenses.
The petitioner in the case with Suit Number HCR/61D/2023 had dragged Famoroti, who hosts many family and religious programmes on radio and stations, to court, accusing him of physical assault, infliction of emotional and psychological injuries, and alleged illicit affairs and adulterous acts with other women outside the marriage.
Justice Oluboyede, in the judgment, ruled that pieces of evidence put before the court by the petitioner on the respondent’s incessant acts of cruelty and assault towards her are sufficient enough to grant her prayers for the dissolution of the marriage.
The evidence tendered in court included photographs showing injuries inflicted on the woman, a voice recording of the respondent in which he was heard threatening to kill the petitioner, the sobs of one of the children begging that her mother should not be hurt, and a medical report from a government hospital.
Justice Oluboyede said: “I have assessed the pleadings and evidence of the parties herein and have especially weighed the evidence. The petitioner has painstakingly recounted some of the physical abuse she endured at the hands of the respondent.
“The respondent has generally denied these allegations and, particularly in reference to the events of the 28th day of April, 2022, stated that he did not assault the petitioner and that she fell when she was struggling with him to collect her phone.
“The petitioner in proof had tendered the pictures of the injuries she said she sustained, an audio of the assault as recorded by the petitioner with her phone, and the medical report of her treatment. I have looked at the pictures, and the injuries are on her lip, chin, elbow, knees, and shoulder.
“The medical report also included that she had bite marks consistent with the injuries visible in the pictures. Also in the audio message, you can hear a man’s voice threatening to hurt or kill, the voice of a female wincing, and the sobs of a child begging that his or her mother not be hurt.
“Overall, weighing the evidence of both parties, I find that the respondent failed to convince this Court that he had never been violent towards the petitioner or that he attacked her on the said 27th of April, 2022. He did not deny that it was his voice on the audio recording “Exhibit D.”
“He also admitted being in a scuffle with her and that the injuries resulted therefrom. The domestic violence and actual physical abuse meted out on the petitioner qualify as cruelty in matrimonial causes. It has also been held that persistent accusations of adultery constitute cruelty. Ayangbayi v. Ayangbayi (1979) ALL ER 539.
“All the behaviours of the respondent alleged by the petitioner are all actions which, without doubt, qualify as grave and weighty on one part, and which the petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to continue to live with on the second part.
“The petitioner has therefore, by evidence led, been able to successfully prove that the marriage to the respondent has broken down irretrievably, the respondent having behaved in a way that she cannot be expected to live with.”
While the court dissolved the marriage on grounds of domestic abuse, violence, and acts of cruelty, the court refrained from adjudicating on the allegation of adultery because the petitioner failed to join individuals being alleged of illicit affairs with the respondent in the suit in line with Section 32(1) of the Matrimonial Causes Act.
Motunrayo, in her petition filed before the court by her lawyer, Mr. Temitope Omotayo, said Famoroti’s alleged serial brutality against her forced her to leave her matrimonial home in April 2022 to save her life.
Motunrayo also accused Famoroti of infecting her with sexually transmitted diseases due to the Respondent’s alleged adulterous nature with other women.
The Petitioner claimed that their children have been traumatized due to constant pleadings that their father should stop beating and battering her.
She added that the two children have been living with her, and the Respondent has not in anyway financially or emotionally responsible for the children since May 2022.
Motunrayo averred that during one of the several incidents of domestic violence in their matrimonial home, her husband allegedly smashed her head with a POS machine, leading to her admission at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, where she was treated for injuries sustained in the attack and issued a medical report to that effect.
Among the reliefs she sought from the Court by the Petitioner include an order of dissolution of the marriage contracted between her and the Respondent because the marriage has broken down irretrievably.
Motunrayo also prayed the Court for an order of perpetual or perennial injunction restraining the Respondent and his agents from further assaulting, battering, embarrassing, intimidating, or insulting her in any way or manner whatsoever now, forthwith, and henceforth.
The Petitioner also prayed the Court for an order for the custody of the two children produced from the union. The age of the first child is 13 years, while that of the second child is 11 years.
According to her, “About three months into the marriage, I found out that the Respondent had not ceased from the adultery act and that the lady he presented as a relative got pregnant for him, which made me confront him with the allegation, but instead of his being remorseful, he assaulted me and even destroyed our wedding frames and other valuables.
“During the pendency of my cohabitation with the Respondent, I contracted sexually transmitted diseases from the Respondent due to his adulterous nature with other women, but when I tried to talk to the Respondent about it, the only response from the Respondent was usually serious assaults, which several people have intervened, but to no avail.
“I left the matrimonial home in April 2022 to save my life from perennial criminal assaults of the Respondent, and then I could no longer condone or tolerate the mental and physical abuses of the Respondent.”
Responding in his Cross-Petition filed by his lawyer, Dr. Michael Afolayan, Famoroti denied Motunrayo’s allegations of domestic violence and adultery levelled against him.
He maintained that he never meted out incessant assaults on Motunrayo as alleged or did anything that amounted to intolerable behaviour in his relationship with the Petitioner.
Famoroti claimed that there was no time in the marriage that he was involved in any illicit affair with any other woman, and he did not introduce any lady to the Petitioner with whom he was having any illicit affair.
According to him, he had informed the Petitioner of the two children he had from another woman, even before they were married, with the two of them aged 20 years and 16 years respectively.
Famoroti accused the Petitioner of posting her picture with a strange man on social media, whom she described as her secondary schoolmate. He also accused his wife of inviting strange men to their matrimonial home, claiming they are her schoolmates.
The Respondent added that it was the Petitioner who deserted him and the matrimonial home and took the children of the marriage away, refusing to allow him access to the children since then, and had always hidden the children from him.
He said further that all efforts made to make her return to the matrimonial home have proved abortive despite the intervention of clergymen, family members, landlords’ association, and other well-meaning individuals, and she has vehemently refused to return to her matrimonial duties.
Famoroti also sought the order of the court for the dissolution of the marriage on grounds that it has broken down irretrievably and an order that he be awarded the custody of the children and the Petitioner granted access to them, especially on weekends and holidays.
