Anita Oyakhilome Files For Divorce On Grounds Of Adultery

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, The Cable reports.
The couple have been reportedly living separate lives for many months which was a course for concern for the church members.

New reports say Anita Oyakhiloma on April 9, 2014 filed for a divorce citing “unreasonable behaviour” and “adultery” as her reasons. According to reports, she outlined several allegations against the pastor which cannot be published for legal reasons.

The case with Suit No FD14D01650, was filed by Attwaters Jameson Hill Solicitors on behalf of Mrs Oyakhilome at Divorce Section A, Central Family Court, First Avenue House, High Holborn, London, England.

Pastor Oyakhilome was served with a decree nissi in his hotel room on a recent visit to London, The Cable reports.

In divorce cases, a decree nisi is issued by the court to tell the parties that they have to wait a certain period of time before making their divorce final. This is to allow time for anyone who objects to the divorce to tell the court why they object. The decree nisi can often be set aside with mutual consent of the spouses. When the period expires, they can apply for the “decree absolute”, which means the divorce is completed and the partners are no longer married

The couple, blessed with two daughters, Sharon and Charlyn Oyakhilome, are so loved by members of their congregation who have tried to broker peace between them but all efforts to reconcile them but seem to have failed.

The Cable reports:

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.

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.

TheCable learnt Anita recently wanted to go public with the details of her allegations against the husband but reached an informal agreement to sheathe her sword in the interest of the church.

Oyakhilome is regarded as one of the richest and most influential pastors in Nigeria, and co-authors the fast-selling Christian daily devotional, Rhapsody of Realities, with the wife. However, following the strain in the marriage, the wife had been complaining to friends that her husband had stopped the payment of royalties due her from the devotional.

“She complained of being deliberately starved of funds, perhaps to bring her to her knees in the belief that she would eventually return to her matrimonial home and mend things,” a church member told TheCable in the UK. A wealthy Zimbabwean businessman, who is into telecoms, is one of the biggest financiers of the London branch of the church which Anita pastors along with other branches in Europe.

When the crisis got to a head, the Zimbabwean stopped funding the church ? some said in solidarity with Oyakhilome, his close friend and neighbour in Johannesburg, South Africa. However, Oyakhilome was said to have been shocked when the wife announced at a fundraiser that she was sowing a “seed” (donation) of $1 million ? despite her assumed lack of access to funds. Matters got to a head on Sunday, July 13, 2014, when some relatives of Anita locked up the London branch of the church to protest against the “humiliation” being meted out to their sister ? who had not overseen services at the branch since November 2013.

Some church members had sometime in May 10, 2014 launched facebook campaign, asking: “Where is Rev. Anita Oyakhilome?” They said Pastor Chris and Rev. Anita must unite “for the sake of the gospel, the church and their two beautiful daughters”.

They quoted Malachi 2:16 in the Message Bible: “I hate divorce, says the God of Israel.” The facebook page, which has over 3,300 “likes”, was opened with a stated mission: “This is a Call to Prayer for all believers who understand God’s heart concerning marriage and a Call to Action by Pst. Chris. #DoWhatYouPreach”.

-Thetrent

     On Sunday, two days after it was reported that Anita Oyakhilome had filed for divorce, Christ Embassy deleted her pictures and personal information from its official website, www.christembassy.org.

    Many describe the action as the beginning of a process to shut her out of the church, after she accused her husband of “adultery” and “unreasonable behaviours” in a divorce suit filed in London last April but only made public on Friday

Church members and other well-wishers hoping the matrimonial squabble between popular televangelist, Chris Oyakhilome and his wife, Anita, would be resolved in no time should forget it as Mrs. Oyakhilome has ruled out the possibility of ever reconciling with her estranged husband.


In a chat with Premium Times, through her lawyers, Mrs Oyakhilome said her relationship with Pastor Chris had terribly degenerated that there is no room for any reconciliation or out-of-court settlement.

The newspaper had contacted Mrs. Oyakhilome through her lawyers, Attwaters Jameson Hill Solicitors, after news broke that she had filed for divorce, to enquire whether any out-of-court settlement option was being explored. In their response Tuesday, her attorneys said there was no chance the estranged couple would ever live as husband and wife again.


“It is with great sadness that our client, Pastor Anita Oyakhilome, has come to the conclusion that her marriage to Pastor Christian Oyakhilome has irretrievably broken down and regrettably there is no hope of any reconciliation,” said Stephen Goddard, Business Development Manager of Attwaters Jameson Hill Solicitors. From early this year, there had been speculation that the marriage between Mr Oyakhilome, the founder of Believers Love World (aka Christ Embassy), and his wife, who is also Vice-president of the ministry, was collapsing.

More: http://www.nigerianeye.com/2014/09/im-totally-done-with-pastor-chris-no.html