{"id":845,"date":"2026-07-12T14:36:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T13:36:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=845"},"modified":"2026-07-12T15:09:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T14:09:39","slug":"delta-high-court-dissolves-six-year-marriage-over-irretrievable-breakdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=845","title":{"rendered":"Court Dissolves Six-Year Marriage Over Irretrievable Breakdown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Christabel Onajero<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The High Court of Justice, Delta State, sitting in the Abraka Judicial Division, has dissolved the marriage
between Mrs. Akinsiku Toyin Ituna and Mr. Karunwi Taiwo Oluwarotimi, ruling that the union had
broken down after the couple lived apart for more than five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justice Samuel I. Okeleke delivered the judgment on June 16, 2026, in Suit No. HCA\/6D\/2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The petitioner told the court that the couple contracted their marriage under the Marriage Act at the
Federal Marriage Registry, Lagos, on February 22, 2020. The marriage produced one child, Jesse
Batifeori Karunwi, born on October 20, 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mrs. Ituna testified that the marriage broke down shortly after the wedding due to irreconcilable
differences, she informed the court that she left the matrimonial home in July 2020 and had neither
returned nor maintained any meaningful relationship with the respondent since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> Delta High Court Declares Claimant Lawful Owner, Orders Demolition of Building in Land Dispute<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Court records showed that despite several hearing notices and an order permitting substituted service
through WhatsApp, the respondent failed to appear before the court, file a defence or contest the
petition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Counsel to the petitioner, Dr. O. Imoni Ogbe, argued that the prolonged separation satisfied the
provisions of the Matrimonial Causes Act, which permits the dissolution of a marriage where spouses
have lived apart continuously for the period prescribed by law before the filing of a petition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his judgment, Justice Okeleke held that the petitioner’s evidence was credible, uncontroverted and
sufficient to establish that the marriage had broken down irretrievably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court observed that the parties had lived apart for more than five years, exceeding the statutory
requirement for granting the petition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> Physician Harps On Proper Hygiene As Varsity Health Centre Records Increased Malaria Incidence Among Students<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the issue of custody, the judge ruled that it was in the best interest of the child to remain in the
custody of the mother, who had been solely responsible for the child’s care since birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The respondent was, however, granted reasonable access to the child at mutually agreed times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justice Okeleke consequently granted a Decree Nisi dissolving the marriage, in which the decree will
become absolute after three months if no sufficient cause is shown to the contrary, in accordance with
the provisions of the Matrimonial Causes Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No order as to costs was made. The petitioner was represented by Dr. O. Imoni Ogbe, while the
respondent did not participate in the proceedings despite being duly served.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> Traders, Consumers Decry Rising Cost Of Pepper, Tomatoes In Abraka<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Christabel Onajero The High Court of Justice, Delta State, sitting in the Abraka Judicial Division, has dissolved the marriagebetween Mrs. Akinsiku Toyin Ituna and Mr. Karunwi Taiwo Oluwarotimi, ruling that the union hadbroken down after the couple lived apart for more than five years. Justice Samuel I. Okeleke delivered the judgment on June 16, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"iawp_total_views":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,14],"tags":[31,25,219,140],"class_list":["post-845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abrakametro","category-trendingnews","tag-abraka","tag-delsu","tag-judiciary-matters","tag-law"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=845"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":853,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845\/revisions\/853"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}