A Nigerian man
has abandoned his UK wife of 10 years to have a secret wedding with another
woman in Nigeria.
When her hubby
of ten years had to spend Christmas with his relatives in Nigeria, Tracy
Akingbogun hoped he’d return with a special gift to make up for their time
apart.
David, 43, had
sorted out a present — for himself. He had secretly MARRIEDanother woman
in Nigeria on Boxing Day.
Mum-of-four
Tracy only discovered the shocking news through a friend months later — and
kicked him out.
Heartbroken
Tracy, also 43, says: “While I was at home with the kids missing him at
Christmas, his present to himself was a new bride.
“I still can’t
believe he did that to us after more than ten years together.
“I did some
research and saw that the ceremony was a religious one and not a legal one. So
he hadn’t committed bigamy.
“His dad had
five wives during his lifetime, so I suppose David thought he could do that
too.
“But not when
he was living in the UK and not when he was married to me.”
Tracy, from
Gravesend, Kent, adds: “This Christmas it will be just me and the children
again, just like it was last year. But this time I’ll be over the moon that
David isn’t with us.”
Tracy was a
single mum to Cameron and Alysia — now 17 and 13 — when she met David in a
nightclub while she was on a rare night out in March 2004.
She recalls: “I
was watching a group of lads on the pull, but one of them wasn’t. He was just
leaning against the bar enjoying himself. He saw me watching him and came over
to chat.
“His name was
David and he was really kind and gentle. He’d only arrived from Nigeria three
months before.”
David moved
into Tracy’s home just six weeks later and Tracy was delighted to discover she
was pregnant.
Their son
Kayodo, now 11, was born in December 2004 and they married two months later.
Tracy says: “It
was a small ceremony with a few family and friends. David read out a poem and
told me he really believed in me and our future together.
“From then on
he called me ‘Wifey,’ his pet name for me.”
The next year
the happy family went to Nigeria to meet David’s relatives.
Tracy says:
“They were lovely to us and even went through the traditional ceremony of
washing our feet when we arrived.”
Their second
son Olalekan, now four, was born in December 2011.
Tracy busied
herself bringing up her brood while David turned his hand to various businesses
from buying and selling cars to running a market-stall. He also tried to set up
an internet cafe.
But two years
later she found messages between David and a Nigerian woman.
Tracy says:
“One read: ‘When you were last here I wish I’d kissed you.’ I shouted at him,
and wanted him to explain himself.
“He said she
was someone he used to date before he came to the UK. He said it was nothing,
they were just friends.
“I told David
it was her or me. He said it was me, I was his wifey and that was that.
“Over the next
few months he tried hard to show he meant it and we got back to normal.”
Then David
announced he would have to go to Nigeria over the 2014 festive period. Tracy
says: “I was furious. I told him he should be here for his sons — for our
family. He kept insisting he had important family business.”
She says: “I
was so angry with him, but I wasn’t going to let the children know that.
“It was
Christmas so I was going to make it a good one.”
She messaged
David, reminding him to call their boys on Christmas morning.
Tracy says:
“David finally called at 9pm. I gave him an earful but let him speak to the
children. I was so angry with him.
“On Boxing Day
I didn’t hear from him, but I spoke to him and his family the next day and they
were all friendly and normal.”
But, on David’s
return, Tracy felt something had changed.
She says: “When
he wasn’t away working he was on his laptop. He was hardly speaking to me or
the boys. I would encourage him to spend time with them, but he’d snap at me
and say he was busy.”
Tracy tried to
make her family life as happy as possible but in May came a bolt out of the
blue.
She got a
message on Facebook from the partner of one of David’s friends in Nigeria, a
woman Tracy had met when she visited.
She says: “The
message read that he’d got married to another woman on Boxing Day — everyone
knew apart from me. She didn’t think that was right.
“The world I
loved had been whipped from beneath my feet. Tears streamed down my face. I’d
known something was up.
“I confronted
David but he denied it. He seemed so cool and calm. So I messaged her and said
there must be a mistake.”
What came next
wiped away any trace of doubt Tracy had.
Tearfully, she
recalls: “She ended up sending me photos of the wedding ceremony via WhatsApp
and confirmed it to me. There was no denying that.”
Shaking, Tracy
managed to guess his Facebook password and logged in. There, she read messages
between him and his new wife, the woman she’d caught him messaging two years
before, who was also his ex-girlfriend.
Tracy says: “I
was so angry I couldn’t speak. He couldn’t get married — he was my husband!
“I confronted
him and he tried to deny it again but this time I told him I’d seen the photos
and read the messages. I told him to pack his bags and get out.
“I don’t take
calls from his family, as they were in on this and went to his wedding last
Boxing Day while lying to me.
“He abandoned
his children and me to get married to another woman. He’s made his choice and
now he’s stuck with it.”
David said: “I
can do what I want. It’s nobody’s business. What do you want me to do?”
Comments
Post a Comment