The family of the founder of Peace of Jerusalem Revival Ministry, Prophetess Lilian Chibuzor Abua, has said that the four children she had for her ex-husband, Prophet Ayodeji Obayan, would not bear his name because he did not pay the bride price.

The family said the Igbo culture allowed the children to bear the woman’s maiden name if the woman got pregnant out of wedlock and gave birth without the bride price being collected by her family.

Prophet Obayan is a Yoruba while his former wife hails from Abia State.

His former wife had married one of the spiritual sons of her ex-husband and changed the children’s surname to her new husband’s name.

Magistrate Segun Stephen Rotiba, who spoke while dissolving the marriage between the estranged couple, described as barbaric, evil, and ungodly a part of Ibo custom which denied a father access to his children over non-payment of bride price to the wife’s family.

He said: “The custom that tends to punish one person when two consenting adults are involved in the act is nothing but the highest element of insensitivity and servitude.”

But the family said there was no way the father could lay claim to the children if he had not paid their mother’s dowry.

Pastor Emmanuel Azubuike, who spoke on behalf of the Prophetess Obua’s family, said the relationship between the couple was toxic.

He said their daughter’s ex-husband tortured her physically, mentally, emotionally, and verbally until she decided to run for her dear life with her four children when the situation became unbearable in 2017.

Pastor Azubuike said the court never gave custody of any of the four children to Prophet Obayan nor paternity right to him.

Azubuike noted that Prophetess Abua never had a bride price or dowry paid by Obayan who hails from Ondo state and that there was no legal binding on them as a couple since they started cohabiting in the year 2000.

He said their daughter ran from being killed to find love and happiness elsewhere and decided to follow the pathway of happiness.

According to him, “Prophetess Chibuzor Abua was never in another relationship until Ayodeji left the relationship. Now, she is happily married to Apostle Prince Abua and their marriage is legal with the full support of our family.

“So, the whole narrative that she abandoned her marriage for another man is all hog-wash and a deliberate media campaign not only to tarnish her image but also a deliberate attempt cleverly calculated by a lazy man whose stock in trade is to take advantage of a vulnerable woman.

“In the final analysis, the court do state that there was no marriage in the first place to dissolve but that they were constrained by natural justice to put an end to a union that has gone sour.

“It was also the same Ayodeji that will be calling the children he and Chibuzor Lilian had bastards whenever they tried to protect their mother from his numerous battering.” (The Nation)

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