BY NGOZI OKORIE
THE wife of a branch manager of a new generation bank in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has raised the alarm over an alleged plot of a mistress to completely take over her husband through diabolical means.
The embattled wife, Blessing Oko Ikpor, claimed that her husband abandoned their 17-year-old marriage without any quarrel between them.
She also alleged that her husband, Anthony, held a traditional marriage with the said mistress (names withheld) in a hotel in Umuahia, Abia State.
The woman, who has four children for her husband, told journalists that the mistress was already pregnant for her husband, insisting that he was under a spell.
Narrating all that transpired until they got to this point, the mother of four said, “It all started when the woman came to do one year Industrial Training with the branch of the bank my husband heads.
“Friends and relatives of the family used to inform me of the closeness of the woman to my husband and their movements in hotels and other places but because of the level of trust I had in my husband, a serious Christian, who preaches on the pulpit, I refused to either believe them or confront him with any of those.”
She said it was when she overheard her husband speaking on the phone with her uncle to help influence the girl’s posting to Port Harcourt for her youth service that she realised that something was amiss.
She stated, “One day, my daughter fell ill and I took her to the hospital. Before we came back, my husband had changed all our house keys and locked up my three other children in a room upstairs.
“He left to God knows where, switching off his phones. Efforts by our Pastor to intervene in the matter failed because he could not be reached. I thought of breaking the keys because my children were crying upstairs, but Pastor called me to say I should not break the doors and I stopped.”
She said she could not place her finger on what the actual problems were, stressing that before the mistress came along, they were living happily.
“I supported him in thick and thin. There were no problems and with God on our side and prayers, he rose to where he is now, and now this. I know that my husband is under the woman’s spell, and unfortunately, her parents are supporting her in this,” the distraught wife noted.
The bank manager at the centre of the separation scandal has however reacted to the viral video where his estranged wife was seen fighting with the alleged mistress.
He said they had been separated for over two years and that three of their children (boys) were with him, while the girl was with their mother.
He said, “I am aware that concerned friends and citizens have made responses directly on those issues. The fact is that my children are involved in this and try to maintain some level of privacy for my own sake and that of my children.
“I do not think this is what I should be stating on the social media at the moment. My first son is 15 and he has told me that he is not happy with what is going on and I should make sure I do not join issues with such, and that is where I stand in this.
“I do not think what she is doing is the right thing but she should know that a man in my level is not a mad man to wake up to do all those things. My children are living with me, my three boys are living with me and they have left for school and they are doing very well.”
He said he had seen worse petitions than that of his wife on social media, but that he had refrained from commenting for the sake of his children.
“We have separated for more than two years now but she still lives with my daughter. I am not going to say anything further on this until all issues are resolved. I do not see this as the best way to go about it. But since she thinks it is for her, I wish her the best,” he said.
