DIVORCE: CRUELTY CAN BE USED TO PROVE INTOLERABLE BEHAVIOUR
Nanna v. Nanna (2006) 3 NWLR (Pt. 966) 1 at 43—44, H—C: ‘Cruelty is not ground set out in grounds of divorce. The facts can be used to show the conduct of the respondent in such a way that the petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to live with the respondent. Thus, a marriage can properly be held to have broken down irretrievably on the ground that one spouse has been proved to be guilty of cruelty to the other … Cruelty is therefore regarded as a conduct which is grave and weighty as to make cohabitation virtually impossible coupled with the injury or a reasonable apprehension of injury physical or mental, to health. The accumulation of minor acts of ill-treatment causing or likely to cause the suffering spouse to break down under strain constitutes the offence of cruelty. See Adaramaja v. Adaramaja (supra) and Williams v. Williams (1987) 2 NWLR (Pt. 54) 66.’