Nollywood actor, Emeka Ike is still
finding it difficult to believe that he’s no longer married to his
wife, Suzanne Emma. The unexpected happened earlier this year, when
his 14-year-old marriage to Emma was dissolved by a Lagos Island
Customary Court over alleged incessant battery. Emma
had on July 13, 2015, approached the
court to dissolve the marriage, accusing her former husband of
physically and verbally abusing her throughout the duration of their
marriage. But the star actor was not ready to let her go, as he
pleaded with the court to reconcile them. Unfortunately, his plea
yielded no results as the court finally dissolved their marriage on
the grounds that it was beyond redemption. Since then, Emeka Ike has
never been the same again. According to him, the most painful part of
his life was watching the mother of his four children walk out of
their marriage despite his plea to reconcile with her which fell on
deaf ears. He shares his pains, his anguish and regrets, vowing,
however, to unravel the circumstances that led to the crashing of the
marriage. He also believes that his wife was used to blackmail him by
those who want him dead.
You took a long
break from acting, what happened?
I tried to
restructure the man, Emeka Ike. Emeka Ike is a leader and as a
leader, you need to appraise and reappraise your empire and
achievements. So, I have been appraising my constituency and I am
happy that we are moving forward.
At a point, you
relocated to Abuja from Lagos. What actually prompted your decision
to move to Abuja?
I felt that my life
was seriously threatened in Lagos. I have said it before that I am
going to arrest some people very soon. In fact, some people took
advantage of the AGN crisis to threaten my life and all that will be
sorted out very soon by the police. I relocated to Abuja to avoid a
situation where I would be walking on the streets of Lagos and a
criminal would gun me down. I used my discretion to stay away while I
watched from afar what was happening in Lagos. That was why that
woman (his ex wife) is no longer living with me. God knows I am not a
wife beater. I didn’t touch her and my children testified to that
in court. I don’t know what came over her and who used her to
blackmail me. But all that will be unravelled soon.
Are you saying
that you never raised your hands on your ex wife?
Have
you watched that one movie, where the wife was saying “everything
is alright between me and my husband. He takes care of me and
provides all my needs”. That was the situation between my wife and
I. If I didn’t know I would have blamed her sudden change of
character on my enemies. I love her so much. Why would she blackmail
me by claiming that I was always beating her up when I didn’t. To
avoid the disturbing mess, I had to abandon my businesses and house
in Lagos and find a new life in Abuja.
Does it mean you
were not prepared for the divorce?
I wasn’t. I don’t
even believe we are divorced and I cannot remarry again. I am a real
Christian and Christians don’t divorce. I told the court that I’m
not divorcing my wife but they went ahead and got an injunction
against a High Court order. Why was she trying to walk out of her
marriage? Who was advising her to divorce me? I must see to the end
of this matter because they have put my children out there without a
mother. She’s in pain wherever she is right now because I know they
are dealing with her. I learnt that she was beaten black and blue by
one wife snatcher sometime ago, beside Mobil Petrol Station on
Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. My own wife beaten up like a common
criminal! I want to know what has gone wrong with my wife, I want to
know the devil that is behind this. What is the extent of blackmail
that brought her to this degrading level? The Inspector General of
Police will be investigating into the matter very soon. While doing
this, I have to stay away from Lagos because they could be after me.
You accused
Pastor Chris Okotie of Household of God Church International
Ministries of being the brain behind your marital crisis. How did he
come into the picture?
The guy who is
confusing my wife attends his church. He’s one of the elders of the
church. It’s a church arrangement. When there is crisis in the
family, a true man of God should invite both husband and wife with
the aim of resolving their differences but Chris Okotie refused to
pick my calls. Whenever I called him on the telephone, he usually
avoided my calls. As a man of God, he was supposed to use his
position to save our marriage. I didn’t chase my wife out of my
house, I wanted Chris Okotie to advise her to return to her husband
but he refused to pick my calls. He did not bother to find out what
went wrong between us. While I am still alive, my wife was demanding
that I should ‘will’ part of my property to her. She
shut down a school I spent millions of naira to establish. Who was
telling her to make such a demand? Where is she taking the property
to? What happens to our children who will inherit my property? She
was insisting on getting her own share of my property. At that point,
I had to leave Lagos for Abuja because some people were strongly
behind her and my life was no longer safe. But I’m coming back to
Lagos soon. My house and property are still in Lagos. Nothing is
hidden under the earth that cannot be unearthed someday. She
blackmailed me for what I am not. You will feel sorry for a man whose
wife was blackmailed to blackmail the entire family.
Despite the pain
she has caused you, you still declare your undying love for her?
Love never dies.
Real love doesn’t die, forget what we are talking about. The Bible
says that “love covers multitude of sin.” She’s the mother of
my children. She was nobody when I met her, she never
knew her father. I built a house for her family in Lagos and also in
Isoko. I trained her up to the master’s degree level. I gave her
the exposure she needed in life. There are thousands of pretty girls
who would want to marry me the first week we got divorced. But I am a
gentleman, it is not about marriage for me now, it’s about doing
the right thing. What is wrong with my woman? If it’s something we
can redeem her from, we will still redeem her. Forget about marrying
her again. I don’t need to marry again, but I need to know what was
wrong with my wife. I need to know why she started blackmailing me.
Can you welcome
her back into your life if she returns to you?
Accepting her back
is not the problem, but let her confess and get herself back. I
believe she’s under the influence of something.
How did you feel
watching her walk out of her marriage ?
It’s the most
painful part of my life. I cried for 24 hours every day for three to
four years. I was just asking myself what is happening to me. You
know, in blackmail, you will not know what is going on because
somebody is playing the game. It was much later that I knew what was
happening to me. I need to know the strength of these blackmailers
because we have law in this country. And with the law, we will look
at the issues pro-actively.
Are your
children missing their mother?
They are not
because they feel disappointed in her. She was their heroine. Her son
was begging her, saying “mummy please come back because of me.”
But she replied him; “I am going to marry another man and have
other children.” If you can say that to your first son, it’s
either you have a mental problem or you are not okay spiritually. She
even said to the judge that she wanted to have other children after
having four children. What is wrong with her? Her case beats my
imagination. I have been blackmailed, undermined and I have been
crushed. She closed down my school on the day I travelled, an
investment that a student at St Nicholas was paying N385, 000, per
session as school fees amounting to N880,000 every year. She went to
the landlord and asked him to come and reclaim his property. Who is
behind all these things? You cannot be unfair to me and get away with
it, not when I’m still alive and seeking justice. I met her on the
street and I saved her from the street. She told me she’s from a
poor home and that she never met her father. I promised her that I
would be her father and her lover. I gave her too much opportunity to
swallow me.
I have moved on
with my life
--Wife
Meanwhile, when
contacted,Emma said, “The marriage is over. I have moved on with my
life. I am not willing to talk about it again. His actions have not
shown that he's remorseful.
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