Pastor Oyakhilome: wife opens up on divorce saga

Nigerians especially the religious community where shocked to the marrow when in April 2014, news broke out that Pastor Anita Oyahilome had filed for a divorce from her pastor husband, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy and Loveworld ministries.

The divorce which was filed at Divorce Section A, Central Family Court, First Avenue House, High Holborn, London, United Kingdom caught most observers by surprise.

She filed for divorce on the grounds of ‘unreasonable behaviour’ and has been rather silent since then. The pastor who now goes by her maiden name, Ebhodaghe has now spoken up for the first time about the divorce through her blog and her post suggests she may have suffered abuse from her exhusband.

She wrote, “It is my desire to reach out and inspire you especially if you feel vulnerable and in need of a change. I hope to inspire you to believe in yourself no matter the circumstances. I want to help you recreate your life going forward, so you can live beautifully. I have been through this journey of rediscovery and nothing is as beautiful as realising one’s uniqueness as I have done. Life is a precious however, your life can go through different seasons: winter, spring, summer or autumn. Life can hit you with financial loss, disappointments, death of a loved one, a broken relationship, loss of a job, a divorce, being falsely accused or being a victim of crime. These can shatter you to pieces but you can do something about it.

Life is a gift from God and you deserve to be happy irrespective of your age, race, gender, background or financial situation. I urge you to appreciate the gift you are, you are precious and valuable. Never lose sight of who you are; begin to create new visions and dreams for your life. Let nothing stop you from growing every day. My story is not one of a bed of roses, far from it but I had a choice to either beat myself over the regret of tolerating abuse for so long or put a stop to the abuse and recreate my life for the best. My journey was not in vain. I can now help others realise that their situation does not define them.

In order to move on with life, I have come to realise that nothing is permanent. Your problem is not permanent; you can do something to change it by ensuring you do not allow the situation or the person make your life miserable. Pain is a fact of life, it is inevitable but suffering is optional. You can do something to change the pain by over looking every obstacle, take control as a force of nature to grow and expand. Do what is necessary now to use the gift God has given you to unleash your purpose.

My message to all is simple: you have value therefore discover your potential. Do not allow anybody destroy you or rob you of living a joyful life. Your life is not wasted; you have just started a different phase of life. God will show you how to use your testimony to help others and restore their lives to exuberance. Please join me to encourage and inspire others. You have a story to tell, you can contribute and participate in the dialogues here. Let us all learn from one another’s experience and reach others with the gift of love and kindness. Share your experience by emailing me or making a comment. Celebrate your uniqueness because there is only one of you.”

In another post titled “There is always something to be thankful for”, she also wrote about how one can cope after an abusive relationship or marriage.

Albino Foundation demands investigation into member’s death in Lagos

It was reported in some sections of the media that one 23-year-old albino, Ugochukwu Ugogbua, committed suicide on Sunday, Aug 16.

Yesterday the deceased's family house was besieged by members of the Albino Foundation, who demanded to know what made him kill himself.

There were rumours that Ugo had killed himself because his parents wanted him to join Jehovah's Witnesses, a claim his family has since denied. 

The members of the Albino Foundation commiserated with the bereaved family then proceeded to the police station to enquire about the outcome of their investigation on the incident. 

At Festac Police Division, Lagos State Coordinator of Albino Foundation, Mrs. Omolala Joseph, said, “We are here on behalf of the national headquarters of Albino Foundation in Abuja to find out what exactly led to the death of our colleague. “Though he was not a registered member of the Foundation, he was an albino like us, therefore, we have a duty to pay a condolence visit to the family, counsel them and orientate them. “Things like this cannot just happen. We need to know the exact cause so as to help re-orientate others.” 

A member of the family, who simply gave her name as Oluchi, said, “We have read a lot of reports on my brother’s death. I want to categorically state that he did not kill himself because he was forced to become a Jehovah’s Witnesses member. “It was not also because he was stigmatised as an albino. The truth is that what led him into the act were powers beyond him and he never left any note for us concerning his death.” 

It was gathered that late Ugochukwu started behaving strangely a few months before he took his life.

Corroborating the claim, Oluchi said, “We discovered a month before his death that he started moving with some boys in the area. Later, he became reserved and then resigned from his job as a dry cleaning attendant. We started counselling him, unknown to us that he was planning to take his life. We prevented his first attempt when he mixed cement and water and was on the verge of drinking it when he was stopped.” 

It was also gathered that late Ugo’s mother left him and his sister in the care of his aunt in Festac several years ago after the demise of his father. His aunt, who is yet to come to terms with his death, refused to speak with at the police station.

Police sources said investigation into the incident was still ongoing.

FIRE INCIDENCE: I lost everything but I am alive and well - Kate Henshaw

Speaking up for the first time on what the fire that razed her home really cost her, Nollywood actress Kate Henshaw in a recent interview with City People Magazine reveals that she lost "everything".

Here is the full account of the unfortunate event that cost her everything, in her own words:

"It is true. The house got burnt and I lost everything. I really don't know what happened because I was here on the 'Do Good' set, I was filming, and was about to have lunch when my nanny called me and was like "madam fire". I told her to get people to throw water on it and didn't even know it was like a big fire. 

I immediately got up and by the time I turned into the street before mine, I could see the sky was black. I got there and there were people everywhere and nobody could get in. Because the first thing about fire is the smoke, it's going to make it totally impossible to get in, and it could kill you. And my next door neighbour was having his daughter's birthday and there were children there, that was IK Osakioduwa, he happens to be my next door neighbour, and he had sent a message to all radio stations about the fire."

Also disclosing how the inefficiency of the state fire service hastened her woes, the actress said:

"I called the fire service for over 2 hours and there was no response, by the time they came everything had gone. The house was razed completely. But I am talking to you now, and I am glad to be alive. Winning this award further goes to show that as long as there is life, you can hope for tomorrow. 

"There are two choices, either you stand up or you stay down. There are many people who have gone through such fire experience and lost their lives but there is no scratch on me, the will power is what matters. I was at that point where I said what's the use, where I am going to start from but I thank God."