“My wife is stronger than me and she has turned me into a punching bag,” a man, Lukman Owolabi, told a Customary Court sitting in Ikole in Ekiti State on Thursday.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the wife had filed a suit seeking the dissolution of their 23-year-old marriage over constant fighting and threat to life.

However, the husband, who denied beating his wife, told the court his wife was one who had been beating him, saying “she is stronger than me.”

“My wife beats me whenever we fight because she has power more than me.”

Mr. Owolabi, who said the marriage had produced six children between ages six and 22, urged the court to dissolve the union.

Apart from the vexed issue of constant beating by the wife and threat to life, the estranged couple also wanted the court to intervene in a landed property to ascertain the legitimate owner between them.

The wife, Esther, who operates a restaurant and bar in the town, claimed ownership of the land, while the husband insisted the land belongs to him.

The President of the court, Yemisi Ojo, fixed further hearing for February 13.