A 61-year-old Christian cleric, Matthew Majiyagbe, on Friday secured a divorce on grounds that his wife accused him of infidelity.

An Igando Customary Court in Lagos dissolved Matthew’s eight-year marriage to Bunmi, a 48-year-old fashion designer.

The Court President, Mr Adeniyi Koledoye, held that Matthew insisted on divorce in spite of several interventions by the court.

“The court was left with no option than to grant him his wish.

“Both of you henceforth cease to be husband and wife; each of you should go on his/her separate way unmolested,’’ he said.

Koledoye granted the custody of the only child of the union to Bunmi and ordered Matthew to be paying N5,000 monthly for the child’s feeding.

He ordered that the man should also be responsible for the child’s education and general welfare.

The court president also directed Matthew to pay N250,000 to Bunmi as rehabilitation cost.

Matthew had petitioned the court, saying that Bunmi told his church members and others that he was having sex with a female evangelist in his church.

“I only asked the evangelist to take over one of my church branches but my wife accused me of having an affair with her, and that has brought division among my members.

“I stopped making love to my wife in January 2018 because my sex organ no longer functions since she started tying a fetish object on her neck whenever we wanted to make love.”

The petitioner added that Bunmi regularly brought strangers into their matrimonial home to chant incantations, adding that he no longer loved her.

“The spirit ministered to me that those strangers are evil and that they are responsible for her miscarriages. I warned her but she refused to yield.”

He begged the court to dissolve the union, saying that Bunmi would kill him.

Responding, Bunmi, said that Matthew had been denying her sex since January 2018 on the allegation that she had a charm on her neck.

“My husband drinks a lot of soft drinks; he buys a crate at home and can drink six bottles at once; too much of the sweet stuff is what is affecting his sex organ,’’ she told the court.

Bunmi said that Matthew had accused her of not being romantic and attractive, adding that he threatened to marry another wife.

“He later brought our church evangelist to take over our church branch I was handling.

“He told me that if I refused to pack out, he would divorce me; days after, I received a court divorce summons,” the mother of one said.

She had prayed the court not to dissolve the marriage, saying that she still loved Matthew.

(NAN)