A contractor, Chief Uzo Nwosu, has told an FCT Customary Court that he had a sexual relationship with the family’s housemaid because his wife allegedly refused him conjugal access.
Nwosu made this claim before a three-member panel chaired by Hadiza Attah while responding to his wife Rebecca’s application asking the court to strike out the suit. He insisted his wife only allowed intimacy “when she wanted pregnancy,” adding that after their second child, she “continuously sex starved the petitioner until she moved out of the matrimonial house.”
Testifying as the fourth prosecution witness, Nwosu also noted that his wife frequently dismissed domestic staff, saying that “in a space of four years, she had sacked 18 housemaids.” He told the court that the dismissals often followed accusations that the maids were sleeping with him.
According to him, “My wife goes out late at night, leaving my children with the security guard at the gate.”
He acknowledged his wife later accused him of raping one of the maids, but he insisted the encounter was consensual. “My lord, the reason was that my wife denied me access to her body and I was starved for about four months.”
Nwosu also admitted he had considered marrying the maid—identified as Mercy—because of “the way she loved and cared for his children.” He further stated that as a prince from Ohuhu, Umuahia North in Abia State, he is “entitled to marry multiple wives” under his tradition.
The petitioner denied claims that his son has autism, saying the child only experienced delayed speech similar to patterns in his family. He argued that the attention his children lacked from their mother had to be provided through hired domestic help.
In the suit filed under: FCT/JD/CC/TAK/CV/09/2025, Nwosu is seeking dissolution of the marriage, full custody of the two children to be granted to his parents, and visitation rights for Rebecca. He maintained that his wife is “addicted to her wayward lifestyle of clubbing and promiscuity,” and often left the children with security guards.
Rebecca, however, vehemently challenged these allegations and the very foundation of the marriage. She told the court she was married under Ijaw native law and custom—not Igbo tradition—on April 30, 2021, and that a church ceremony followed on May 1, 2021.
She maintained she was dutiful and loving until her husband “revealed his true character,” claiming his behaviour had caused the collapse of a previous marriage as well. According to her, their separation stemmed from an incident where “he raped and sexually assaulted one of the housemaids sometimes in July, 2024.”
Rebecca alleged Nwosu confessed the assault to her and that the matter involved both families. She denied ever withholding intimacy from him and dismissed claims of promiscuity or abandoning her children.
She further asserted that their son has been diagnosed with autism and faulted Nwosu for dismissing the condition. She accused him of being a “chain-smoker” who smokes around the children—an influence she said once led their son to put cigarette butts in his mouth.
Rebecca also accused Nwosu of sexually assaulting another nanny “in the presence of the children,” claiming the case was dropped only because the victim lacked resources and because Nwosu and his mother allegedly paid to silence it. She said she would present video, audio, and bank transfer evidence.
She insisted it would not be in the children’s interest to be handed over to their paternal grandmother, who she described as having little involvement in their lives since the separation in October 2024.
Rebecca told the court Nwosu stopped her from working after marriage, leaving her financially dependent despite her flourishing fashion business.
She asked the court to dissolve the marriage, return the N60,000 bride price, grant her full custody of the two children, and order Nwosu to continue financing their education and healthcare.
Meanwhile, Rebecca’s new lawyer, Mike Enahoro-Ebah, has challenged the court’s jurisdiction, arguing the suit was improperly filed in Takushara. Nwosu’s counsel, Thomas Ojo, opposed the objection, insisting she should proceed with her defence.
The court is expected to rule on the jurisdictional application on November 20. Read Original