This is as reported by the SUN
The Seventh Day Adventist Church
in Imo State has been thrown into crisis as a member of the church, Mr. Charles
Alozie sensationally alleged that the President of the Anambra and Imo Conference
of the church, Pastor Ephraim Uzodinma Okpulor snatched his wife, Mrs. Chinwe
Alozie. Charles Alozie said the incident has put asunder the marriage
contracted with Chinwe 12 years ago.
Mrs Chinwe Alozie who works at
the church’s headquarters in Owerri as an accounts officer had allegedly
started the illicit relationship with the President of the Conference who is a
family friend of the Alozies in 2011 unknown to the husband, until the bubble
burst in September 2012, when Mr Alozie accidentally discovered some amorous
conversations saved on the wife’s BlackBerry cellphone.
The distraught Alozie said the
affair between his wife and the pastor has not only ruined his life but had
also left him without his children as his estranged wife had absconded with his
three children since July 12, 2013.
He also accused the President of
the Eastern Nigeria Union Mission, Pastor B.E.O Udoh of allegedly shielding
Pastor Okpulor from being investigated for alleged adultery with his wife even
when the matter had been officially communicated to him over a year ago.
The embittered man said he was
elated when his wife was employed in the church because he had thought that she
would be safe in the house of God but regretted that now he felt betrayed by
the man who is not only the chief shepherd of the churches in Imo and Anambra
states but also a family friend who eats and drinks with him in his house. He
was angry that the pastor had allegedly been having an affair with his wife
behind his back until God decided to expose them. He claimed that since his
discovery of the alleged amorous relationship, his life had been in danger.
“Since I discovered this unholy
relationship between my wife and Pastor Okpulor, my life has been under
constant threat by the two to the extent that my wife had gone to the landlord
and threatened him, warning that if he does not throw me out of the house, that
he would be dealt with. I came back from my daily work one evening and the
landlord called me and gave me two weeks quit notice because he does not want
any problem with anybody on account of my living in his house. I had to plead
with him to give me at least a month for me to find another accommodation. It
was some members of the church who raised the money for me to pay. Later the
tricycle I was using for transport business suddenly disappeared from where it
was parked. I know this is also the handiwork of my ex- wife and her
accomplices because they have vowed to make life unbearable for me as long as I
continue with the matter.
“The only thing I need now is to
get my three children back but my wife has vowed that I can never get them
back, claiming that the children no longer belong to me. This is the reason I
had to engage the services of a lawyer to get my children back since my wife
has already made up her mind to become the unofficial second wife of the
pastor. My attorney has written to Pastor Udoh, reminding him of the letter I
had earlier written to him on January 17, 2013 to investigate the matter, but
the head of the church in the entire Eastern region has chosen not to do his
duty by sanctioning Pastor Okpulor.”
Almost in tears, Alozie said that
the bubble on the relationship burst on September 26, 2012 when he came home
after the day’s work and the wife refused to serve him his usual dinner but
rather directed their housemaid to do so, because she was busy chatting with
the pastor on the cellphone as usual. But what irked him, he said, was when his
wife who was sitting in the parlour, while he was in the bedroom eating, ordered
their maid to close the adjoining door so that he would not hear the
conversation going on between her and the pastor. He said he had to reopen the
door but the wife again shut it and at that point he inquired from her what
sort of discussion was going on with the pastor that she would not want him to
hear about. He said his wife insisted that the door must be closed, saying that
it was a private matter.
Alozie said that it was at that
point that he ordered the wife to hand over to him the BlackBerry cellphone,
which, he alleged, was given to her by the pastor. Instead of handing over the
phone, Alozie said the following day, the wife went to block the line at the
MTN office, apparently to stop him from gaining access to the number.
“I came back from work on the
evening of September 26, 2012 but instead of my wife to serve me dinner, she
instructed our maid to serve me the food while she continued with her
conversation with the pastor because that is what she usually does every night
and I was not disturbed because Pastor Okpulor is not only the head of our
church in both Imo and Anambra states but also our family friend and I went to
the bedroom to eat while she was sitting in the parlour, talking with the
pastor. But later, she ordered our maid to close the door connecting the
parlour with the bedroom and when our maid closed the door, I ordered her to
leave it open but my wife stood up from where she was sitting to close the door
for the second time and I asked her what sort of conversation was going on between
her and the pastor that would warrant her to close the door when I was eating
in the bedroom and she replied that it was a private matter and at that point,
I seized the cellphone from her.
“The following day when I refused
to hand her back the phone, she went to block the line in MTN office unknown to
me, because when I tried her line, it simply said that the number no longer
exists. But few days later when she travelled, I decided to extract the memory
card from her phone and put it in my own phone to listen to some of the church
hymns which she usually plays on her phone because I equally like the songs.
But to my greatest surprise, what I heard was recorded voices of her
conversations with different people including my own and I was wondering how my
wife would record my conversations with her.
But when I scrolled further down,
I was alarmed when I heard the amorous conversations between my wife and the
pastor which is terrible for any man of God to engage in with a married woman.
And to be sure of what I was hearing, I had to cross-check the number and made
sure that it actually belonged to Pastor Okpulor and I wept bitterly. Because
it was a total betrayal for a man who I consider as a family friend to be
having an affair with my wife behind my back. It is even more painful for me
because whenever I have any problem with my wife, it was this same pastor that
settles the problem between us.”
I got home one afternoon, Pastor
Okpulor was already in my house, I greeted him and asked him if my wife had
told her pastor and boss that she now drinks alcohol and obviously, Pastor
Okpulor must have known that I had discovered his unholy relationship with my
wife, he retorted that he did not know that my house was on fire and quickly
left. When I confronted my wife about her adulterous relationship with the
pastor, she had begged me to forgive her and not to expose them and I agreed on
the condition that she must tell Pastor Okpulor to come with his wife so that
the matter would be settled since it is a family affair.
“I reported the case to her
family members and told them how my wife has turned our matrimonial home into a
chalet, sleeping with the pastor who she is working with in the same office,
and when her family members tried to intervene in the matter, she simply told
them off, saying that she was no longer interested in the marriage. By early
February 2013, she had packed all her belongings and abandoned the children and
left the house before I returned from work.”
Soon After, Pastor Okpulor failed
to attend meetings scheduled by the secretary of the Conference, Pastor Akubude
and my church pastor to absolve himself of the allegations, I had to officially
write to the overall head of the church in the Eastern region, Pastor B. E. O.
Udoh on what the president in charge of Imo and Anambra conference of the
church has been doing with my wife, which has led to the break up of my
marriage.
“Members of the church are very
disappointed in the way and manner the allegation of adultery, which is a very
serious offence is being handled by the regional head of the church whom we
heard is being blackmailed by the same Mrs Chinwe Alozie. When a similar case
was brought against a pastor, this same Okpulor insisted that the pastor must
step aside for an investigation and after which he lost his pastor’s licence.
The unwillingness on the part of the regional head to sanction Pastor Okpulor
who is his subordinate could only mean that he approved the actions of the
pastor.”
He further revealed that because
of the ugly situation, some members of the church who were to wed in the church
last year refused to allow Pastor Okpulor to perform the solemnization of their
marriage.
He also disclosed that the
regional head of the church, Pastor Udoh has also ignored the letter written to
him by the attorney of Deacon Alozie demanding for action on the matter.
Another member of the church who
simply identified himself as Nnamdi said that the leaders of the church were
treating the matter with levity because Alozie is a poor man. Nnamdi who said
he was disgusted with the church leaders whom he described as Pharisees
disclosed that he had already decided to stop attending the church as long as
Pastor Ukpulor remained the head of the Conference of Imo and Anambra states.
When contacted, Pastor Okpulor
said that he needed the clearance of his superiors to make further comments on
the issue.
