The divorce seeking pastor who said he met his wife in 1993 when he was a member of Assemblies of God Church at Olodi, Apapa, where he was later ordained a pastor, and subsequently started his own church, told the court that their marriage started having problems when his wife’s nephew came to live with the family.
“We dated for a while and finally got married in 1998. We lived in peace and harmony. She was even a signatory to my bank account. That is to show you how much love and trust I once had for her but problem started when her nephew came to live with us. She always displayed callous attitude towards the poor boy. When I protested, she took offence and we had a serious misunderstanding. And for the first time I raised my hands against her.
“After that incident, we hardly sit to chat, play or discuss together. Our sex life also suffered. We practically didn’t make love anymore, only whenever we are ready to make babies. I slept facing the wall. What actually shocked me the more was her advice for me to keep girlfriends. I was astonished and asked her to have a second thought on what she was saying, but she still maintained her stand,” he said.
The father of four told the court that his wife’s unyielding disposition towards their sex life drove him further into the arms of strange women, adding that the depression really took a toll on him and he went astray.
“When I came back to my senses, I felt very remorseful about my adulterous life. I called my wife and in the presence of my father, I confessed my waywardness to her and asked for her forgiveness. Though she initially claimed to have forgiven me, she insisted that the marriage was better dissolved so we could go our separate ways.
“After fruitless meeting with her family members to resolve the issue, I decided to leave the house for her. But before I left, I pleaded with her to change her mind, but all my pleas fell on deaf ears. I left the house in tears and shattered heart. I put up with a friend for a while. Later, I sold all my landed properties and travelled to the Philippines to seek greener pasture,” he said.
He said prior to his confession, he was having setbacks in his business, adding that he gathered the little money he had and borrowed from friends to set up a booming business for her.
“I was broke and bankrupt and my wife refused to care for my needs. She left me to die in hunger”
He said further that it was while he was abroad that his brother called him and informed him that his wife had been spreading false stories about his failed attempts to use her and their second daughter for money-making ritual, adding she also said he sent assassins after her and she had on two occasions narrowly escaped their bullets.
“I came back to dismiss these rumours and to formally have the absurd marriage dissolved. So, if anything should happen to her in future, people would not point accusing fingers at me,” Nwoji, who has since remarried and has children told the court.
He prayed the court to have the custody of the four children of the union for proper fatherly care, adding that his utmost concern is to erase the notion their mother infused in them that their father is a ritualist.
His wife, Happiness Lebechi Nwoji, while reacting to the allegations levelled against her, agreed to the dissolution of the marriage, adding that it has broken down irreversibly. After listening to both parties, the president of the court, Alhaji T.A. Said, dissolved the union and urged them to maintain absolute peace.
