The President of a customary court in Ibadan, Oyo State, Mrs S.M Akintayo have set a guideline on how to recognise a valid customary marriage.
Akintayo who is the President of Mapo Grade A Customary court, Ibadan said that to hold a customary marriage valid, there must be payment of dowry, capacity to marry, consent of the parents and presentation of gifts. Any marriage that does not meet these criteria is not valid.
Akintayo said this while presiding over a divorce case between a security personnel, Sunday Akinyemi and his wife, Rebekah, who had been married for 16 years.
Akinyemi accused Rebekah of being fetish and disrespectful.
He said: “My lord, I’ve endured so much embarrassment as a result of Rebekah’s frequent public fights and I can no longer cope with her condition. In fact, I have no control of myself as she has no form of respect for me and my parents;
“For about two years, I could not eat from the food I bought at home because she bluntly refused to cook for me. Worst still, my business collapsed due to stress from Rebekah, a development that led to my becoming a security man;
“As if those are not enough, she is in the habit of showering curses on me and has even threatened to stab me to death with a knife before,” Adeyemi told the court.
The petitioner begged the court to allow the children to remain with him as his sister had been taking good care of them.
However, Rebekah was absent when she was called to open her defense. The bailiff said that he had at various time served notices of court’s hearings on the respondent, but that she declined appearance.
However, President of the court, Mrs Akintayo, held that there was no marriage to be dissolved between Adeyemi and Rebekah because there was no contractual marriage between the parties as there was no payment of bride price.
Akintayo noted that for any marriage to be recognised as a valid customary marriage, there must be payment of dowry, capacity to marry, consent of the parents and presentation of gifts.
She added that there was no evidence to show that any of the above stated requirements were presented.
Akintayo granted custody of the two children in the union to the petitioner and also granted the order restraining the respondent from harassing, threatening, disturbing and interfering in the private life of the petitioner henceforth.
