A 40-year-old businessman, Modibo Surajo, on Tuesday pleaded with a Grade 1 Area Court, Gudu, Abuja, to compel his wife, Mariam to refund N486, 000 expenses he incurred during their wedding.
Surajo told the court that he had to make the demand because his wife had refused to stay in her matrimonial home.
The petitioner, a resident of Durumi in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), accused his wife of frequently leaving their matrimonial home since they got married in 2011.
He said his marriage to the respondent produced a son but the respondent recently fled to Kaduna State to stay with her uncle, Ismaila Alhiru.
According to him, the respondent has never stayed for three whole months in his house without running away since they got married.
He said the respondent insisted that he should get another apartment for her and should divorce his first wife before she could stay married to him, which he said, he would not do.
“You can get married to a woman from the city and she would stay with her husband in the village peacefully, so if she is no longer interested in the marriage I want her to refund N140, 000 which I spent on the wedding.
“She should also refund the N20,000 I paid as her dowry, I gave her friends N25,000, gave her a gift of N20,000, transportation to Niger Republic and also from Kaduna to Abuja at N120, 000.
“I hired two cars at N16,000, Asoebi at N75, 000, I sent two people to her at N30, 000 and gave her father N150, 000 which is a total of N486, 000, I want her to refund all these money,’’ he said.
In her response, Mariam said she did not ask Surajo to divorce his wife, but only asked him to get another apartment for her as the petitioner’s wife made the matrimonial home unbearable.
“I did not tell the plaintiff that I am no longer interested in our marriage, I left the house because his wife disturbs me with trouble and I do not know anybody in Abuja that was why I went to Kaduna State where my uncle resides.
“It is left for the petitioner to choose between getting an apartment for me or me not returning to the house as I am suffering,” she said.
The Guardian reports that the Presiding judge, Alhaji Imam Isah, adjourned the case till April 7 for further hearing.