An
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mr. Benjanim Wordu, on Monday asked a
customary court at Ibagwa-Ani, Enugu State to stop media reportage of
his divorce suit before the court. Wordu, the Area Commander in charge of
Onitsha Police Area Command, is in court to end his 14-year-old marriage
to Juliet Wordu, a surveyor.
The ACP, who had earlier testified
before the court, accused the wife of buying a car without his consent
among other things. Accordingly, he is asking the court to terminate the
marriage, which is blessed with four children. However, shortly before his wife could
present her testimony before the court, the police chief made an oral
application, asking the court to stop the media from publishing further
proceedings of the matter.
Speaking through his counsel, Offorkansi
Clement, the area commander asked the court “to make an order
restraining the press from further covering of this proceedings because
it has come to our notice that the press has been publishing this news
verbatim and it is not in the interest of this matter, because that is
tantamount to ridiculing the children and family of the said marriage. Offorkansi, represented by a lawyer from
his chamber, said, “I bring this application under part 3, sub 10 of
the Customary Court Laws of Enugu State. In addition, order 12, rule 6
of the Customary Court Law equally provides that this court has power to
control its activities in the interest of peace and justice.”
In a counter motion, counsel for the
defendant, J.U. Ugwuoke, told the court that the press is a serious
organ in the society, with its own duties and obligations to the
society. “In the performance of those duties,
even proceedings at the Supreme Court are reported; indeed judicial
proceedings of all kinds are reported in the media, both in the print
and the broadcast media. This is also a court, so your worship, your own
court is not different from other courts.”
In its ruling, the President of the
Court, Sunday Ugwude, said even though it had powers to regulate its
proceedings, it cannot stop the press from doing its work, unless when
the reports were contrary to the proceedings. It ordered the applicant
to produce any evidence showing any media report that was different from
the proceedings of the court.
Meanwhile, Juliet told the court not to dissolve the marriage. She said, “I love my husband,, I love my
home as well as my children. We both brought them into the world and I
feel it is right that two of us should join hands to raise them. “Secondly, he made a mistake in his
first marriage, which is blessed with a son; I don’t want such a mistake
again. I would not want a situation where my children will be given to
another woman or his sisters.”
Juliet informed the court that she needed to buy a new car as she was spending a lot to maintain the old one.
She added, “There was a week I spent
N200,000 to repair that car; because of these expenses, I felt like
buying a new one. I even told him to come and take the money and buy the
car and give it to me as a birthday gift but he refused and insisted
that I should not buy.”
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