A female pastor, Mrs Rachael Alabi, on Wednesday told a Customary Court sitting at Mapo in Ibadan, Oyo State to dissolve her nine-year-old marriage to her husband, Pastor Segun Alabi, because he was allegedly making efforts to use her for ritual purposes.
SaharaReporters gathered that Rachael made the submission before Chief Ademola Odunade, the court’s President, saying that her life was under serious threat due to her husband’s desperation to acquire spiritual powers to perform miracles.
She added that she barely survived the last attempt allegedly made by her husband to use her for ritual purposes after he had used voodoo on her.
“I never knew that Pastor Segun combined ‘fetish doctoring’ (dabbled in the occult along) with evangelism, else, I would have stayed away from him.
“As soon as I got into his house as a wife, I noticed that I started becoming slimmer and losing blood to the extent that my bones became so visible to any onlooker.
“All Segun kept telling me was that I possessed a demonic spirit but I knew he was lying.
“One day, I stumbled on a booklet containing various voodoo spells or incantations and I saw the particular one he attached to my name.
“However, I was not quick enough to keep the book because Segun returned home while I was thinking of what to do.
“I recall that he also had a gory voodoo site in the corner of the house,” she said.
Rachael further said that her husband had refused to take any form of responsibility for the only child they had.
In his counter argument, Segun objected to the suit and denied his wife’s allegation that he was a ritualist.
He said the only reason why he didn’t want the marriage to be dissolved was because he had a court wedding. He however added that both of them were originally not compatible by genotype as they both have AS genotype.
“I did everything I could to take care of Rachael when she fell ill, but her relatives did not appreciate my effort.
“I wanted to play my fatherly role for the child but I couldn’t locate Rachael after she left my home.
“In fact, I have reported her at the welfare department before,” Segun said.
He tendered before the court the wedding certificate conducted at a register in Ibadan.
In his ruling, Odunade dismissed the suit, citing lack of jurisdiction on the matter.
He however, advised the plaintiff to approach the state High Court that can entertain the suit or seek further advice from her lawyer.
