My wife slept with her pastor, ex-Nigerian lawmaker says

Leonard Dilcon, a former member of the House of Representatives, has accused his divorce-seeking wife, Joy, of sleeping with her pastor, and blamed him for the crisis in his marriage. The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that Mr. Dilcon made the accusation while defending himself in a divorce suit filed by his wife at a High Court in Jos.

Joy had asked for a dissolution of the 20-year-old marriage in a case she filed on September 14, 2014, and also requested the court to grant her custody of their three children.

The defendant, in his submission, accused the wife of neglecting the marriage and further accused her of having extramarital affairs with Pastor Danjuma Fwenji of God’s Grace Divine Mission, Jos. He accused his wife and the said pastor of committing sexual immorality at her parents’ home and the church.

“Each time I try to resolve our differences with my wife, the Pastor will appear and confuse everything,” Mr. Dilcon, who represented Pankshin/Kanam/Kanke Federal Constituency at the National Assembly, alleged.

But Mr. Fwenji, who appeared before the court on Friday, denied ever having sex with the petitioner. He told the court that he only met the petitioner in 2006 when she was brought to his ministry for prayers and counselling. The pastor said that he and other elders of the church prayed for the woman after listening to her.

Under cross-examination by the defendant’s counsel, Francis Okafor, Mr. Fwenji said that he could not recall seeing the petitioner again, owing to the large number of people that worship in the church. The Pastor said he did not know the woman’s residence and had never had any private affair with her.

He also denied the allegations that he was responsible for the crisis in the petitioner’s marriage and rejected the allegation that he was instrumental to her desire for a divorce. Mr. Fwenji also told the court that the church had asked Joy to stop attending its programmes due to the crises in her marriage, to which she complied. “Ever since she stopped attending the church’s programmes, I have not seen her again,” he said.

Mr. Okafor then pleaded with the court to adjourn the matter to enable both parties to file and adopt their written addresses. Justice David Mann, who granted the request, adjourned the matter to February 20.

(NAN)