Socialite Toke Makinwa has filed for divorce from Maje Ayida, citing adultery, cruelty and irreconcilable differences.
In a petition filed by her solicitors, Messrs Adepetun, Cato-Martins, Agbor & Agbor, the embittered Rhythm FM OAP names Maje as 1st respondent and his alleged mistress, Anita Solomon, as 2nd respondent.
The facts upon which the petition for dissolution is based are:
i. Since the celebration of the marriage on 19th January 2014, the 1st Respondent has consistently and continually indulged in sexual and adulterous relationship with the 2nd Respondent in their matrimonial home when the Petitioner is away at work and outside the matrimonial home when the Petitioner is around.
ii. Further to (i) above, the 2nd Respondent delivered a baby boy to the 1st Respondent sometime in July 2015. The child was born in the United Kingdom amidst spurious claims by the 1st Respondent that he does not have money to pay the bills in the house and/or take care of the Petitioner. The 1st Respondent claimed to have invested into building a business and given this assurance, the Petitioner didn’t ask him for upkeep under that notion. Unbeknownst to the Petitioner, the 1st Respondent was diverting funds to the 2nd Respondent for her upkeep and for her travel expenses to the UK to have the 1st Respondent’s baby. The Petitioner saw several text messages and Bank alerts to this effect. The 1st Respondent didn’t pay the rent on account of lack of funds and by reason of this, the landlord came on two occasions to embarrass the Petitioner.
iii. Following the birth of the child, the 1st Respondent became physically and emotionally tied with the 2nd Respondent to the annoyance and frustration of the Petitioner.
iv. Prior to the scandal which is now public knowledge, the Petitioner was meant to sign an endorsement deal with ……………Limited (one of the telecommunication giants in Nigeria) worth N20,000,000.00 (Twenty Million Naira). However, following the widespread negative media publicity of the Petitioner’s marriage predicated on the 1st Respondent’s adultery with the 2nd Respondent and the birth of a child, ……withdrew from the endorsement deal which withdrawal negatively impacted on the Petitioner as she has expended a lot of time and finances leading to the failed deal.
v. That in spite of the above, the Petitioner preserved in the marriage with the 1st Respondent sincerely believing that things will get better. However, the situation got worse as the 1st Respondent continued his adulterous acts and boasted on several occasions that he wished to have been married to someone else. The 1st Respondent continued to call and text the 2nd Respondent at questionable times of the night to spite the Petitioner.
vi. That due to the 1st Respondent’s apparent lack of love and affection to the Petitioner, it has never been a concern to the 1st Respondent if the Petitioner is in a good state of health. Living with the 1st Respondent became disconsolate and terrifying making the home most uncomfortable and unconducive.
vii. The 1st Respondent took pride in doing whatever he desires and when he desires it with no consultation with or regards to the Petitioner’s feelings. On countless occasions, the 1st Respondent discussed his business dealings and takes advises from the 2nd Respondent. The Petitioner was never consulted and was continually treated with disdain. The Petitioner continued to forebear.
viii. The above notwithstanding, the slightest complaint by the Petitioner of some of the attitude of the 1st Respondent would generate serious verbal nagging, the use of vulgar abuses by the 1st Respondent in the clear view of the domestic staff, church members and neighbours and menacing the estimation of the petitioner in the minds of family, friends and members of the public given the peculiar nature of the Petitioner’s job and has thus created an unpleasant environment for the Petitioner. The 1st Respondent has repeatedly sent text messages and phones calls to the 2nd Respondent inviting her to live with him.
ix. Sometime in December 2014 and when several entreaties from the Petitioner had failed, in order to exploit other means of saving her marriage the Petitioner invited some of her family members and in-laws in order to seek a resolution of the matter. Rather, than yield to the Petitioner’s plight, the 1st Respondent continued his adulterous relationship with 2nd Respondent, became more resolute in embarrassing and disrespecting, the Petitioner such that verbal abuse/nagging to the knowledge of all the people living in the neighborhood from the 1st Respondent became a routine affair. The Petitioner further tried to persevere and bore all the insults, emotional and psychological abuse of the 1st Respondent from December 2014 to 8th November 2015 when she could no longer tolerate same and was thus forced to leave her matrimonial home. The 2nd Respondent presently lives with the 1st Respondent in their matrimonial home.
x. The adultery and irreconcilable differences have caused the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage between the Petitioner and the 1st Respondent, efforts at further reconciliation have failed and future attempts at reconciliation would be impracticable and not in the best interests of the Petitioner.
xi. That from the foregoing, the 1st Respondent has behaved in such a way that the Petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to live together with him.
The petition was sworn to at the Lagos High Court on March 9, 2016.
Maje penned a public apology in July 2015, begging Toke to forgive his indiscretion but the content of the petition suggests that the marriage was already too broken to be put together.
