Muslim cleric divorces his wife after she reverts back to Christianity and becomes a prophetess

LAGOS Muslim cleric Imam Rabiu Olayiwola has asked the Igando Customary Court to dissolve his 21-year-old marriage to his wife Rachael after she converted to Christianity and became a prophetess in the church.

Imam Olayiwola, 48, told the court that prior to their marriage, Rachael had agreed to abandon her Christian religion for his Islamic faith. He added that she has, however, reneged on this agreement as she is not only still a Christian but is also a clergywoman as she converted back to Christianity three years ago.

“Three years ago, she now told me that God has asked her to return to her former religion and become a prophetess. I cannot accept that under my roof, it is either she comes back to my faith or I send her packing through the dissolution of the marriage.

“The annoying thing is that she does not go to her church alone but takes the children along. Now the Central Mosque Association Committee vowed to remove me as an Imam if my wife refused to return as a Muslim,” Rabiu said.

He added that his wife was also in the habit of fighting him and did not respect him and she once hit his head on the wall, punched him in the face and also tore his praying garment. According to Imam Olayiwola, Rachael also defamed his character by accusing him of an attempt to use two of their children for money rituals.

Imam Olayiwola told the court that he stopped sleeping with his wife because she refused to use the family planning ring he gave her. However, Rachael, 41, told the court that her husband wanted to use two of the children for rituals.

She added: “My husband came home with a herbalist, who gave me black soap from a black pot and some leaves that I should bathe with them at 1am. The herbalist said I should call the names of my first born and the last born and I should also touch them with the items to bring victory and riches to my husband.

“After the herbalist and my husband left, I received a prophecy not to use any black substance and that if I use it, I will cry. So I discarded all the items given to me and prayed at 1am.”

She said she agreed to practice her husband’s religion, adding that she practiced it for 18 years before God called her to work for Him in the church and she could not disobey God. A mother of seven, Rachael said that her husband had denied her of sex for over two years, adding that after their sixth child, her husband gave her a ring which he said would prevent her from getting pregnant.

“I actually wore the ring but the ring failed and after having the seventh child, he just abandoned me and refused to touch me let alone make love to me," She added. Rachael admitted punching her husband in self-defence when they fought, adding that he used to grab her neck, attempting to strangle her.

However, Rachael urged the court not to grant her husband’s request for the dissolution of the marriage, claiming she had no accommodation and could not leave her children. Court president, Akin Akinniyi, who ordered the dissolution of the marriage, said the court had no alternative than to dissolve it as efforts to reconcile the couple had failed.

He added: “Since the petitioner Rabiu Olayiwola insisted on divorce after several interventions, the court is, therefore, left with no option than to grant him his wish and pronounce the union dissolved. The first two children, who are above 18 years, should decide who to stay with while the last five children who are below 18 years are to live with their mother.

“The petitioner is to pay N25,000 ($70) monthly for the feeding of the five children and he also to be responsible for the children’s school fees and medical bills. A severance of N350,000 ($970) only is awarded to the Rachael as rehabilitation cost and Rabiu is also to pay N350,000 for accommodation to his estranged wife yearly.”