Adultery Not Anita Oyakhilome’s Ground For Divorce, But Other Reasons! READ

ThisDay Newspaper in a report published today has said,
Anita Oyakhilome is not divorcing her husband based on adultery but for other
reasons. According to them, Anita is divorcing the Head of Believers Love World
because of neglect. Some other reasons were also stated. Read the report after
the cut.

Facts have emerged at the weekend that the ground on which
Pastor Anita Oyakhilome is seeking to divorce her husband, Pastor Chris
Oyakhilome, the President of Believers’ Love World Inc., popularly known as
Christ Embassy, is not adultery but on behaviours that suggest that she cannot
‘reasonably be expected’ to  live with
him.

There had been media reports that Anita decided to divorce
Pastor Chris based on allegations of ‘adultery’ and ‘unreasonable behaviours’
but a copy of the court papers for the divorce process filed at the  Principal Registry of the Family Division
(PRFD) of  the High Court of Justice in
possession of THISDAY,  revealed that she
applied for “divorce on the ground that the marriage has broken down
irretrievably.”

In her statement of case in support of petition at PRFD with
number FD14001650, Pastor Anita however, accused her husband of having
inappropriate relationship with some of his female staff members.

According to the statement, “the wife has discussed with the
husband his appropriate relationship with some of his female staff members. She
has explained that this has given her cause for concern. The husband has
minimised her worries and taken no step to alleviate her grievances.”

In fact, the statement indicated no allegation of adultery
as there was no co-respondent to the petition and no names were mentioned.

Dictionary.com defines adultery as “voluntary s*xual
intercourse between a married person and a person who is not their spouse.”

The statement reads in part: “The wife submits that her
marriage to the husband has irretrievably broken down and there is no hope of
reconciliation. The wife will submit that it is the husband’s unreasonable
behaviours which have led to this.

“The husband and the wife are both Pastors. The husband
undertakes his work, in the main, in South Africa and Nigeria. The wife lives
in the United Kingdom. The wife will say that they have lived separately for 16
years and over this time have drifted apart. The wife has come to realise that
the husband will only visit the UK for annual church programmes that he holds
rather than to be with this wife. The wife feels that he has been unavailable
as a father to their children during their developing years.

“The wife feels that their marriage suffered under the
pressure of their work. They would rarely spend time together due to the
husband unavailability. Special occasions such as Christmas, Birthdays and
family occasions and anniversaries past them by and their rarely spent any time
together as a family as the husband was more devoted to his work than he was to
them.

“The wife feels that she has been used to portray and
enhance the husband’s image as a family man when the reality is that there is
no existing relationship between them. She feels that she has been present for
official functions simply for his convenience. On occasions she has been copied
into his travel itinerary which has been given to him by his staff on a need to
know basis.

“The wife has tried to discuss her concerns with the
husband. He claims that she is carnal and he is insensitive to her feelings and
her needs.”

“As a result of the husband’s attitude to their marriage,
the wife will say that he is virtually not recognised as a married man in the
ministry. His teachings and beliefs on marriage is that the husband is a master
and a controller and the wife will say that his concept of biblical; submission
is so extreme that it is impossible for her to meet his expectations. She feels
humiliated by the way he treats her in the presence of his close female staff
members and she feels that she has been taken for granted which has become
unbearably stressful for her.

“The wife will say that the relationship with the husband is
non-existent to the point that his itinerary which was announced  publicly at the beginning of the year had no
provision for time with his family. His staff members who travel with him
organise both his personal and professional life without any input from her.
The wife will say that she is treated with disregard almost like akin to an
intruder.

“The wife feels that she has been mentally, physically and
emotionally deprived of the experience of a marital relationship. She feels
that the husband has persistently judged her and his communication with her has
been unduly harsh. The wife knows that he was hard to please and has been
extremely critical.

“The wife reserves the right to expand on all of these
particulars if the divorce petition is defended.”