Tunji and Tolu
got married on the 2nd of April 2012 at the ikoyi registry in Lagos,
Nigeria. They moved in together to live as husband and wife, after six months
Tunji started keeping late nights,he gets back home drunk, all effort to get
his parent to talk to him proved abortive instead he beats her mercilessly for
reporting him to his parent.
Tolu is tired
of the marriage and wants a divorce.
What is
Divorce? According to the black law dictionary, this is the legal ending of a
marriage, a complete separation.
Marriage is a
union between a man and a woman to the exception of all others, this is a
monogamous marriage recognized under the act also known as statutory marriage.
The law governing marriage under the act is the matrimonial cause’s act which
protects the interest of the parties that is husband and wife. This same law
protect institution of marriage, it does not encourage people to rush out of
marriage once they realize it falls below their expectations.
Section 30 of the matrimonial causes act
provides that divorce proceedings cannot be executed except by leave of court.
By virtue of the MCA a marriage is considered not valid on the following grounds
and can be dissolved irrespective of the fact that it is below two years:
(i)
Where either of the parties is at the time
of the marriage lawfully married to some other person.
(ii)
The parties are within prohibited degrees of
consanguinity.
(iii)
Lack of consent of either of the parties(a
consent obtained under duress or fraud)
(iv)
Either of the parties is not under the
marriageable age.
A statutory marriage may be
dissolved in the court by bringing a petition before the court on the ground
that the marriage has broken down irretrievably .A marriage legally contracted
is said to have broken down irretrievably on the following grounds by the
provision of section 15(2)a-f of the matrimonial causes act.
(i)
That the other party has willfully and personally
refused to consummate the marriage (refused to have sex)
(ii)
The other party has committed adultery and the
petitioner finds it intolerable to live with
(iii)
That the other party has behaved in a way that
the petitioner cannot reasonably expect to live with
(iv)
Desertion by the other party for a continuous
period of one year
(v)
That the parties have lived apart for a continuous
period of three years
(vi)
That the other party has for a period not less
than a year failed to comply with a decree of conjugal rights.
I believe after reading the
provision of the law regarding divorce, we’ll be able to advise Tolu on what to
do and how to go about it.
Oyenike Alliyu-Adebiyi LLB(hons)BL
can someone sue a man marrying an 8year old girl for marrying her under marriageable age? if yes! what ar we waiting for to protect the right of a child? or is there no right of a child ni? egba mi oo
ReplyDeleteIs there an avenue to report domestic violence in nigeria? She might that option before filing for a divorce?
ReplyDeleteYes u can report but It's usually by choice but most Nigerian women are insecure thats why they take the beating ......for fear of not getting someone else to marry them..
DeleteWell, first if all, whats the reason for keeping late night? She should find out if its one of the listed reasons for divorce, since she wants a divorce she can use the reason to file for one. Besides, beating her is one good reason, she can't live through it... why wait...
ReplyDeleteI think tolu should take a chill pile, try to work it out with her man, divorce isn't the answer, all I know is that some other women face worse things and they are still in the marriage, keeping it up by being prayerful, the devil known is better than the angel one hasn't met, tolu biko, jst be prayer and time heals everything, the man u fell in love with, will come around. Foshade has spoken
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 6:56 Any marriage to a child below the marriageable age is invalid in law,therefore marriage to a child of age 8 is not valid,the child act protects the right and this right can be enforced by a legal practitioner and incase where the party affected cannot afford the service of a law, there are non governmental organization in Nigeria that enforce this right.
ReplyDeleteYou can visit www.baobab.org this non governmental organization protects and enforce the right of children.
Anonymous 10:09 domestic violence can be reported in Nigeria. This can be done by reporting to the necessary authorities which Nigerian Police is one, aside reporting to Nigerian police you can report to a non governmental organization and necessary actions will be taken on behalf of the victim of the violence. Find below the address of a non governmental organization.
ReplyDeleteProject Alert on Violence against women
No 21 Akinsanya street,off isheri road,Taiwo bus stop behind FRSC berger lagos. Email info@projectalertnig.org
Hmmmmn!I never knew you have passion for writting!keep it up
ReplyDeleteBolatito....Thanks for your time
ReplyDeleteMonth beezle Domestic violence is enough ground to file a divorce
ReplyDeleteMonth beezle Domestic violence is enough ground to file a divorce
ReplyDeleteI got married in an Anglican church years ago. We were told to attend the registry first. And bring that certificate to the church. The marriage broke down a few years after. We have been living separately. I wanted to legalize the separation and went to the registry for the CTC of the certificate but it was not found as I was told it is not in their records. He asked for it to. Be "arranged"! Does it mean I was never married?
ReplyDeleteI got married in an Anglican church years ago. We were told to attend the registry first. And bring that certificate to the church. The marriage broke down a few years after. We have been living separately. I wanted to legalize the separation and went to the registry for the CTC of the certificate but it was not found as I was told it is not in their records. He asked for it to. Be "arranged"! Does it mean I was never married?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 23:25 from your question it shows you were married in the registry and you were issued a marriage certificate by the registrar,first where's the certificate you were issued? Photocopy is sufficient to prove that you were married under the act,the fact that they claim not to have it in their record shows the defect in our system.
ReplyDeleteAlso is the other party denying the fact that you were both married under the act? If not then you can proceed to court for divorce relying on the evidence of those who served as witnesses on the day you got married.
I hope this answers your questions if not you can go ahead and ask more. Thanks
We never went into the Marriage Registry. There were. No witnesses. He "obtained" the certificate through his friend's mum that used to work there. He told me he was inn a hurry to meet the church deadline. I think I was naive. I believed him then.
DeleteFrom what you have written,i can infer that you were never married under the act. There's no way you will expect them to have record of a wedding that never took place. There's a saying in law you cannot put something on nothing, a certificate received under fraud cannot be recognised not entered into the register
DeleteThe certificate he claims was given to the Anglican church. We stopped living together about 10 years ago
ReplyDeleteThe certificate he claims was given to the Anglican church. We stopped living together about 10 years ago
ReplyDeleteIf the certificate issued was by the Anglican church,then dissolution of such marriage will be in accordance with the Anglican if any, but under the act if you have stopped living together for over 10years and it was not as an agreement by both parties then the marriage will be said to have broken down irretrievably which is one of the grounds for dissolution of marriage contracted Under the act. Thank you
ReplyDelete