The
dissolution of the marriage between Christ Embassy Church founder,
Pastor Christian Oyakhilome, and his wife, Rev. Anita Odegwa Oyakhilome,
has entered the final phase, TheCable can report. The wife is
seeking divorce on the grounds of “unreasonable behaviour” and
“adultery”. She outlined several allegations against the pastor which
TheCable cannot publish for legal reasons.
The divorce case,
with Suit No FD14D01650, was filed on April 9, 2014 at Divorce Section
A, Central Family Court, First Avenue House, High Holborn, London, UK,
on Anita’s behalf by Attwaters Jameson Hill Solicitors, a full-service
law firm with expertise in commercial law and a strong consumer focus in
family, wills and estate, personal injury law and medical negligence.
Efforts
to reconcile the popular couple, whose church is one of the biggest
denominations in Nigeria and has branches all over world, have failed.
They have two teenage daughters, Sharon and Charlyn. Oyakhilome is the
president of Believers’ Love World Inc, the registered name of the
Christian ministry,
while his wife is the vice-president.
The
pastor, according to an elder of the church, has denied allegations of
adultery and believes his wife is being influenced by “bad friends” who
are intent on destroying their home. While Anita believes she has been
relegated in the scheme of things in the church, her husband has
reportedly accused her of trying to usurp power and authority above her
seniors in the ministry.
Sources told TheCable that the pastor
had been making efforts to avoid divorce in the hope that the wife would
eventually have a change of mind. However, TheCable can also report
that the decree nissi was served on the charismatic pastor in his hotel
room during a recent visit to the UK. Decree nissi, in legal terms, is
like a yellow card in a football match which is a precursor to a red
card (“decree absolute”) if no new evidence is provided to stall
proceedings. Church insiders said Oyakhilome had been hoping for
rapprochement, but he was left with no option than to receive the papers
when the lawyers cornered him at his hotel in London. The decree
absolute, which will effectively end the marriage, is expected to be
issued soon while terms of the divorce will be worked out by the lawyers
on both sides.
