‘My Wife Goes To Church On Friday, Sleeps There Until Sunday’ — Divorce-Seeking Man Tells Court

A public servant, Mr Aku Bakari, has taken his marital issues before the Customary Court in Nyanya, accusing his wife, Mary, of prioritising church over her responsibilities as a wife and mother.

Bakari, in his divorce petition, claimed that Mary’s devotion to church activities has led to neglect of her family duties.

“My wife no longer has time for me and our children; she is always going to church. Sometimes she goes to church on Friday and sleeps there until Sunday evening. She does not want to know whether we eat or not,” he told the court on Friday.

The petitioner who resides in Nyanya, Abuja, said his wife’s sudden change of behaviour, dates back to 2010 when she abandoned their family church, Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (NCCN), for another worship centre.

According to Bakari, his wife altered her dressing style and stopped wearing earrings, citing them as devilish.

He noted that his wife immersed herself in another church where he believes she is being “brainwashed.”

The petitioner said, his attempts to discourage her from the new church were in vain, leading him to seek a divorce.

“We were happily living together as husband and wife until the year 2010 when I started noticing some strange behaviours in my wife especially her mode of dressing. She stopped wearing earrings and necklaces, claiming that those things belonged to the devil.

“That was when I noticed that she had stopped attending our family church, the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (NCCN), and was attending another church where she was being brainwashed. I told her to stop, but she refused. It is on this account that I wish to divorce her,” he said.

Mary was in court but denied the allegations.

The judge, Doocivir Yawe, advised the couple to reconcile for the sake of their children and adjourned the next hearing for January 30, 2024.