By Sunmola Olowookere

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The fight started like a drama. The wife was seen tending to her business. She sells vegetables such as pepper, tomatoes, leafy greens, and all other condiments that make up a local grocery store. Then, a man came to her shop and ordered her to leave the shop.

It became obvious that they were a couple as their children who were with their mother in the shop began to scream “Daddy, stop fighting mummy!” when the man began to forcibly drag the woman out of the shop.

The wife too began to protest at the top of her voice. None of the woman’s neighbours dared interfere in the fight. Her husband was known to be a terror in the neighbourhood. If he was not fighting with his wife, he would be fighting with a neighbour or some people will come to fight him on one issue or the other.

As they fought people only called out to them to take it easy as no one dared to take on the husband. He is tall and has a gangly stature which makes his clothes hang off his body. Whenever he is not drunk, he goes about with a scowl on his face.

However, when he gets booze, he becomes merry and no one can provoke him because he would be in a different world. Unfortunately, at this time he was very sober and it made his wrath all the more fierce. He maintained that since she wanted to leave him, then she should vacate the iron container

he got for her and he dragged her, he realized that she had the strength of a horse and it might be difficult to handle her alone. He therefore left her inside the store, grabbed the padlock, and locked her inside the container under the scorching sun. Her children were shocked by their father’s actions. But because they were young, there was nothing they could do. Fortunately, they were playing with their mother’s phone before the debacle. Hence they

were able to call their grandmother and tell her how their father locked up their mother. In less than an hour, the. Grandmother arrived with a big stick She was very angry as she broke the lock with the stick in her hands.

Only God knew how he got wind that the wife had been let loose. He came back and stood guard by the door of the shop silently fuming. He did not respond to any of his mother-in-law’s tirades. However, it became obvious that he had a mission as she waited. Whenever any customer approached to buy goods from his wife, he would tell them to stay away and that she was not selling anything that day. He demanded to have back the kiosk as his wife was planning to leave him.

Indeed the wife who said she was tired of constant beatings had gone back to her mother’s house two days previously. Rather than beg his wife for forgiveness, he was bent on the warpath in bringing her back home. His mother-in-law tried to prevail upon him to see reasons.

He refused to listen to the alternating entreaties and threats by the elderly woman until they got him arrested for harassment and assault and he had to cool his feet off behind bars over the weekend. Peace reigned in our neighbourhood again as he had been as gentle as a lamb ever since he returned from custody.