• Matter being resolved amicably, says Army

This is definitely not the best of times for a Customer Success Officer with a tech company, Mfon Okon Osung, who has alleged that his wife, a soldier, is threatening him because of his disapproval of her affair with a male naval officer.

To ensure the safety of his life, Osung has petitioned both the Nigerian Army and Navy on the issue. Osung, who is married to Lieutenant Prescillia Januarius Akpan, currently serving in the Nigerian Army Farms and Ranches, Abuja, said the petition followed discovery of his wife’s alleged affair with Naval Sub Lieutenant Japhet Joshua Dauda, who is serving at Navy Holdings Limited in Abuja and resides in Mogadishu Cantonment.

Narrating his ordeal, Osung said he got married to Prescillia on May 30, 2023, but on their wedding night, his wife told him that she didn’t want to adopt his name and that she hated penetrative sex, hence they won’t have sex again until she wants to have a child.

After that, Osung said he felt his wife was lesbian and requested that she be transferred to Abuja where he’s based. He also sought to limit her presence with female friends.

He added that after she moved to Abuja from Ojo Barracks, Lagos, in January 2023, she became so mean and rude and started an affair with Dauda. He said: “My wife introduced Dauda to me in August 2023. I discovered the affair in October 2023. When I suspected their frequent communication, I asked my wife about the officer. But she told me that he was an army pal. She made a call to introduce him (Dauda) to me as her husband. During the call, I discovered that he was a naval officer and not her coursemate.

“A week later, she hung out with him to celebrate her birthday. The naval officer drove my wife home later in the night after the celebration. Not comfortable with the gestures, I asked my wife to reduce the closeness.”

Osung, who shared with The Guardian some alleged romantic messages between his estranged wife and Dauda, said he looked into his wife’s phone and discovered sexual chats.

“When I confronted her, she denied. Later, she begged and promised that the relationship between her and the officer had ended.

“Then I discovered from a verbal confession by her that she was pregnant for him. The same lady terminated my pregnancy some time ago and told me that I was too poor and didn’t deserve a child. The second time I caught her, she beat me blue and black.

“The third time, after her confession, I spoke to an army Major who spoke to her. Thereafter, she beat me and strangled me and threatened to kill me but I escaped.”

Asked if he reported the matter to the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Navy, he shared with The Guardian a copy of the petition he wrote. “My wife was pregnant and aborted it. She beat me and threatened my life. She cheated while married. But is this conduct is right of a military officer?

“Dauda also challenged me, saying that I don’t know how to take care of a woman and that a court wedding is not a proper wedding,” Osung lamented. The man also alleged that when he submitted the petition, his wife called and asked him to withdraw it, stressing that he was wasting his time, and that the Nigerian Army would not do anything to her

When The Guardian contacted the former spokesperson for the Nigerian Navy, Rear Admiral Olukayode Ayo-Vaughan, he said: “We have invited Naval Sub Lieutenant Japhet Joshua Dauda for questioning and we are dealing with the situation. This is a dirty one.”

Also the Civil-Military Legal Desk officer, Major Ismail Nibras, said: “We invited her. We looked into the matter and we have resolved the matter from our own end. We have explained our position to the lawyer. We cannot support an extra-marital affair. We frown at it.”

Responding to the petition on behalf of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant Colonel T. K. Dauda, said: “I am directed to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated February 4, 2024, and to inform you that our inquiry as of date reveals that the issues raised in your letter have been resolved amicably.

“Accordingly, I am to courteously request you to confirm or otherwise to enable further action. Please, accept the assurances and esteemed regards of the Chief of Army Staff.”

When The Guardian reached out to Prescillia Januarius Akpan, she said: “Firstly, the screenshots he is distributing as evidence are not from me; they are from him.

“Secondly, we have had issues before all those things he claimed that are from me came out, and I have been telling him that we should go our separate ways. I have been begging his mother that I want to leave the marriage.

“He is with the marriage certificate. Let him bring out the certificate, so that both of us can go our separate ways. I have begged him and his mother but he keeps insisting on me collecting another one. “He claimed that I’m harassing him and threatening his life. He wants me out of my job. He is dragging me all over. I have never issued anyone a threat.”

When asked about Dauda, she said: “Mr Dauda is my friend. Mfon is a very jealous human being. He made me lose a lot of friends because he doesn’t trust me. He is always accusing my friends.”