Prophet in Distress After Wife Changes Children’s Surname to Her New Husband’s Name

A shocking case of marital infidelity and betrayal has rocked the Divine Prophetic Solutions Prayers Ministry in Lagos, where the founder, Prophet Theophilus Ayodeji Obayan, has lost his wife, children and church to a junior worker in his ministry.

Obayan, who has been married to Prophetess Chibuzor Lilian Obayan for 23 years, has dragged his estranged wife to a Grade ‘A’ Customary Court, seeking the dissolution of his marriage and the paternity of his four children. He accused his wife of having an illicit affair with Prince Abua Obi, a church worker, and marrying him without his consent.

Obayan told the court that his wife changed the surname of his children from Obayan to Obi, and also changed the name of the church they co-founded from Divine Prophetic Solutions Prayers Ministry to Peace of Jerusalem Revival Ministry. He said that his wife re-registered the church in 2019 and took over the leadership of the congregation.

Obayan also lamented that he did not pay the bride price of his wife to her family in Abia State, and wondered if that would affect his rights over his children.

He said: “My wife and I have a ministry in Lagos with a large congregation. But at present, she is married to Prince Abua Obi, a junior worker in our church, where both of us led as shepherds. But to my surprise, my wife started an illicit affair with the man, and she is married to him now. She re-registered the Church in 2019 and even changed my children’s surname to Obi.”

The estranged wife, however, defended her actions through her lawyer, B. Odudu, who argued that Obayan lacked the five elements of customary marriage in Ibo land.

He said: “In Ibo land, it is their custom that if the bride price has not been paid in any relationship, they don’t see the man as husband and father of his children.”

The court is yet to deliver its judgment on the case, which has attracted public attention and sympathy for the embattled prophet.

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