PUNCH
In this feature, a Nigerian man narrates how some partners exploit legal and immigration systems as a tool for revenge, using them to arrest and deport their spouses, VICTOR AYENI writes
When Fred Omoruyi first met Jane in Accra, Ghana, in 2019, he had no idea that their acquaintance would spiral into a nightmare—one that would push him to the brink of deportation in the United Kingdom.
The 33-year-old, a professional footballer who grew up in Benin City, Edo State, left Nigeria in 2009, shortly after his secondary school education.
After relocating to Ghana to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a footballer, Omoruyi travelled across West Africa to participate in soccer tournaments.
Through a friend named Jerry, he gained recognition among music artistes and producers in Nigeria, Ghana and beyond.
“It was during my time there that a lady called me one day,” Omoruyi recalled during an X space hosted by a social media personality, Oluomo of Derby, where he shared his story, as monitored by Saturday PUNCH.
“She told me that she got my contact from my friend. She wanted to go into music and asked me to help her get some beats. I assured her that I would get in touch with my friend who would help her, and I did that.”
About a year later, amid the COVID-19 pandemic which led to a lockdown, Omoruyi and Jane had been communicating on the phone, and they planned for her to visit him in Accra all the way from the United Kingdom where she resided.
“She said I was the first person who had done something for her freely and she would like us to be talking more. That was how the relationship started.
“She spent about two weeks with me in Accra. When she came, she was very nice and kind; and that was how I fell in love with her. She told me she would return and we would have a court wedding,” Omoruyi said.
After they eventually got married in Lagos, Nigeria, Jane returned to the UK. Omoruyi said he joined her at her destination on November 21, 2022.
Love gone sour
Barely two weeks after the new couple settled in, Omoruyi got a cleaning job in Croydon, London, England.
The zeal with which he sought to work stirred the admiration of his mother-in-law, who invited the couple to stay with them in their six-bedroom apartment in another part of London till they could afford their own property.
At that time, Omoruyi said he was juggling two jobs all through the week. However in January 2023, he claimed he noticed a change in his ex-wife’s behaviour.
“She just changed. When I asked her, ‘Baby what’s happening?’ she gave me silly excuses. I hardly stayed at home because I worked throughout the week, and sometimes, I was only off for one day due to the extra shifts I took.
“There were times she would have issues with her friends and when I got home, she’d transfer that aggression onto me. On some Sundays when I indicated I wanted to follow her mum to church, she would say, ‘It’s not mum that brought you to this country, I’m the one who brought you here.’”
The 33-year-old alleged that Jane constantly berated him, despite the intervention of his mother-in-law.
“After a while, things became worse and I had to start making audio recordings,” Omoruyi noted. “She would pick unnecessary fights and arguments with me. There were times when I was supposed to be resting at midnight after a busy day to wake up at 6am, but she’d be on the phone, talking to one prophet or pastor.”
Money troubles
Explaining how he managed his finances, Omoruyi disclosed that he was paid £2,200 from his cleaning job, and £3,200 from his second job after taxes were deducted.
Because the couple did not pay house rent, he said about £580 was spent on various bills, adding that he gave Jane “£2,000 for foodstuff and other needs. I would also send money to my mother and siblings in Nigeria.”
He recounted that one night, a friend called him to ask for a loan of £500 to purchase some things for his wife. According to him, when he was about to send the money, Jane became infuriated, which resulted in an argument.
“She stood up and started shouting that how would I dare send money to people anyhow after she brought me to this country. Everybody in the house rushed to the room to ask why she was shouting. I didn’t say anything. She kept shouting, dragging me and holding onto my shirt.
“She said that’s how I do, sending money to my useless mother and family every month and she wasn’t complaining. Though I was upset, I stood up and asked them to tell her to leave my shirt. When she did, I left the room,” Omoruyi said.
He further alleged that the next morning, he woke up to cold water poured on his head by his wife.
“At that time, the weather was cold. She told me that how could I sleep when she was not sleeping. I picked up my phone and recorded this also. Her mother begged me and I just took my shirt and left the house,” he said in a sad tone.
Omoruyi claimed to have received three separate phone calls from a Nigerian prophet who lobbied to be the “couple’s pastor”, a request which he was reluctant to fully accept.
He alleged that in two of the instances when he answered the calls and turned down the request of the prophet, he was verbally and physically assaulted by his former wife.
“When I got home that night, she was standing at the entrance. Immediately I entered the house, she grabbed me by the collar and started dragging me and screaming. She accused me of disrespecting a prophet and hanging up the phone on him, that did I think he’s a small boy?”
The Benin-born footballer stated that things came to a head in late 2023, when Jane allegedly asked for £45 about two days after Omoruyi said he gave her £2,000 out of his monthly salary.
He allegedly urged her to use the money in her account and promised to refund twice the amount at the end of the month; a suggestion which reportedly sparked anger from Jane.
“She insisted that she didn’t have money and if she didn’t get that £45 from me, she threatened to show me that my life was in her hands in the UK. Her mother intervened and they started having a heated argument.
“I left the scene, went to microwave my food and went to eat. She came to where I was eating, carried the food I was eating and poured it on my head. I just lost it. I punched her in the forehead. Later, when I calmed down I went to apologise to her and she said she never believed I would hit her.”
Although the couple apologised to each other and Jane’s family, Saturday PUNCH gathered that this did not put an end to the alleged verbal and physical abuse of Omoruyi.
About this time, Jane allegedly asked him for some money to change the bed in their room, the chairs in the sitting room and the wardrobe. The total sum of which was £3,900.
“I gave her my phone and she transferred the money to her account. They told us they would bring the new furniture three days later and fix everything so I took that day off from work because I had to be at home to help them.
“Everything was fixed that day; her mum and everyone else was happy. We were all happy. That night, we were lying down and she started crying. I asked her ‘Baby what’s wrong?’ She said I have no idea how long she had been praying and fasting for a man like me. She said I was so sweet and kind and I did anything she wanted for her and on top of that she misbehaves sometimes,” Omoruyi recalled.
‘Why I was arrested, detained’
In November 2023, Omoruyi claimed that a heated argument erupted in the home, which made Jane call his workplace to cancel his shift because they had not yet “finished the conversation from last night.”
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