Much ado about Tonto Dikeh’s marriage woes

Tonto Dikeh

When popular Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh, announced in August 2015 that she was getting married to Oladunni Churchill, who is a nephew of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, many of her fans were ecstatic.  Congratulatory messages poured in from far and near and the event dominated discourse for a while.

Shortly after, Tonto also seemed to undergo a personality change which saw her becoming calmer and homely. The majority of her social media posts became about her husband, spiced with inspirational quotes. And when she gave birth to a baby boy, she doted on him like her life had just found meaning.

All of the above-made fans, foes, friends and critics alike to conclude that marriage and motherhood had changed Tonto and she was ready to make sure her marriage succeeds.

However, people were jolted when news surfaced in January that things had fallen apart between Tonto and her husband of 17 months.

The first sign that something was amiss was when Tonto removed her husband’s name, which she had hitherto flaunted with pride, from her social media account.

At the time, Sunday Scoop had spoken with Tonto’s manager and he claimed that taking down her husband’s name was just a business decision for the actress as the account belonged to her brand.

This was amidst reports that Churchill cheated on Tonto with his beautiful personal assistant, Rosaline Meurer, who he allegedly took on several vacation trips abroad and showered with gifts.

Tonto maintained sealed lips for a while until she finally confirmed the rumor when she responded to a fan on social media, who sought to clarify the rumors. She stated that she had blocked all communication channels between herself and her estranged husband. 

“When a woman leaves her husband, she takes her child because absolutely nothing else matters to her but the child. This is what I did and I happily give all access for his father to see him. 

Now my question to you is that did your source also tell you that he has never called for once to ask how his son is doing? I will admit, I personally blocked his access to me for the sake of my emotional stability. 

But nonetheless, he has the nanny’s number, my assistant’s contact, my part-time help’s number, and many other mediums of reaching the son your source claims I ‘took away.’ He could use all possible mediums wisely if he wished to,” she wrote.

Meanwhile, a trusted source who spoke to Sunday Scoop on the condition of anonymity revealed that the lovebirds began having trouble during the last trimester of Tonto’s pregnancy. The businessman and philanthropist was said to have been seen with different ladies at clubs in Lagos.

Tonto was said to have confronted her husband about his alleged affairs and he denied it all. She then reportedly asked him to sack Rosaline if he was sure there was nothing between them but he declined, saying it was wrong to punish her for something she didn’t do. Tonto also allegedly behaved violently on some occasions when she threw tantrums and broke expensive items in the house. 

According to our source, Churchill thought it was a phase that would blow over, and he never believed that she would leave him. Tonto was also said to have suffered mood swings, both during her pregnancy and even after having the baby, which was attributed to post-partum depression.

Her estranged husband has reportedly been making moves to reconcile with her, even enlisting the support of elderly family members, but as Tonto confirmed herself, she has blocked all access.

Right now, Churchill has been advised to give her some time to heal and that in her own time, she would come around and return home.

However, our source, who is close to the couple, stated that Churchill had earlier been married to a certain Bimbo Coker.