'My lord… on the streets, my wife – a pastor – fought with 9 persons wearing only a bra'

A 59-year-old businessman, Joseph Olatunde, on Thursday filed for divorce at an Igando Customary Court in Lagos State over his wife’s alleged shameful act.

Joseph, in his application, is seeking for the dissolution of his marriage to his wife, Kemi Olatunde, whom he said had gained a reputation as a street-fighter.

“My wife, who is a pastor, an evangelist, a church interpreter and women leader, fought with nine persons in a day in our street wearing only a bra and a tight,” she said.

“She fought from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., during which residents of the street were begging her to stop but she refused.

“I also pleaded with her but she cursed and I was ashamed of myself.

“I had to take her pictures with my cell phone when she was fighting with in the public with only the brassier covering her body and sent it to her family.”

Joseph testified that his wife was in the habit of starving him of food and “would always tell me that I should ask my children to cook for me”.

He told the court that Kemi also maltreated his three children from another woman “and does not even want to see my friends and other family members.

“My wife has been hostile to my children and this has led them to vacate my house and rent an apartment elsewhere.

“She fights my friends and relatives anytime they visit me and this attitude of hers has stopped them from coming to my house.”

The petitioner said that his wife was also fond of going out without his permission only to return home at her discretion.

Joseph said that whenever he queried her, she would abuse him.

He, therefore, pleaded with the court to dissolve the marriage, saying he could no longer continue to be ridiculed, starved and deserted by his children, friends and relatives – all because of her.

However, the 42-year-old Kemi denied all the allegations.

“I used to prepare food in the morning, afternoon and evening for my husband,” she said.

She said that her husband had refused to pay the school fees of her daughter from another man who had been living with them since they got married.

Kemi urged the court not to grant her husband’s wish for a divorce, saying she still loved him.

The court president, Adegboyega Omilola, adjourned the case to May 10 for judgment.