An embarrassing scandal played out at a Pentecostal church in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on Wednesday, May 24, 2017, during a program when the wife of the pastor stormed the church to create a scene over her husband's adulterous lifestyle.
Premium Times reports that the woman, Idongesit Ese, had accused her husband, Pastor Nsikanabasi Ese who is the founder and General Overseer of the Church, Kairos Rhema Embassy, of not just living an adulterous life but had impregnated a female member of the church.
According to the report, Idongesit who was prevented from entering the auditorium of the church located at Bassey Esau Street, off Aka Itiam Road, by the security men, was bent on creating a scene and defiantly stood at the church premises to tell her story.
An eyewitness who narrated the incident said the angry woman would not be deterred by the security men as she was heard screaming:
“I want every man and woman who has a conscience in this church to ask my husband why he is doing this to me. Why would he be sleeping with a young girl who came to seek counseling and prayers from him?
I caught my husband in a hotel having sex with Evelyn Etim, a member of our church. As I speak to you, Evelyn has given birth to a baby boy and she is living in Eket with my husband.”
It was gathered that the Pastor who may have had a whiff of his wife's invasion of the church before hand, had allegedly arranged the security men and other young men outside the church to stop her and the moment she stepped out of the car and walked up to the front of the church, a dozen of security men and the thugs accosted her and told her that she did not have the pastor’s permission to attend the church service.
Other people who witnessed the show of shame said they saw one of the thugs slapping the pastor’s wife.
The situation was however brought under control after policemen were invited to the premises of the church to restore order.
To further prove her accusations, Idongesit was said to have brought out photographs from her handbag including that of her bloodied face where she claimed her husband had beaten her when she caught him with Etim and showed them around to buttress her points.
“That’s when my husband, a so-called man of God, beat me and hit me with his car and ran away with Evelyn Etim when I caught them in the hotel,” she explained.
She was said to have also displayed a photo of a young woman whom she said was that of the alleged intruder, Etim.
“I want members of the church to know why I haven’t been attending programs in the church,” Idongesit continued.
“Many people have been calling my telephone line to inform me that my husband lied to the congregation that I traveled out of the country.
This is the moment of truth. Let the people know what has been going on in my marriage and in the church. I believed and trusted this man with my whole life.
I am still asking myself one question; is this the same man who once woke me up late in the night, stood stark naked before me, poured anointing all on his head and swore that God should destroy him and his ministry the day he sleeps with any woman other than his wife?”
The program that was going on in the church on the day of the incident was said to be a special emergency deliverance service with the theme 'One of Us Is in Trouble'.
A guest minister, Rufus Willie, the senior pastor of Living Fire Ministries, Eket, who was delivering the sermon, was said to have persuaded the members who had become uneasy at the show of shame to remain calm.
“God should be feared. When this program was fixed and a theme was given for it, nobody knew what would happen today. Truly, one of us is in trouble,” Pastor Willie was quoted as saying.
According to some church members, Pastor Ese had, on several occasions, accused his wife of having lied to him about her age and her level of education and that he had since filed for a divorce in a customary court in the state.
A clergyman who gave his name as Moses And stood in as Pastor Ese’s father during his traditional marriage told reporters that he was disappointed with what was happening in the pastor’s five-year-old marriage.
“He (Pastor Ese) didn’t give me any vital reason why he should divorce the wife; he just said the woman is harsh, the woman is this, the woman is that.
I said to him, ‘have you reported to me since I came and signed as a father to you during the marriage ceremony? Have you brought the woman to say this is what the woman did?’
I told him since you’ve never brought the woman to tell me this is what she has done wrong, I am not in support of your divorce. I don’t believe that Nsikanabasi is called by God. I have told him and his mother not to come to my house anymore,” Moses concluded.
