The controversy trailing the marriage of
Nollywood star actress, Mercy Aigbe is
constantly taking strange dimensions.
Three weeks ago, the Edo State born
thespian went to town with the narrative
that her hotelier husband, Lanre Gentry,
physically assaulted her in public. But
the man was quick to debunk the story,
saying his wife’s allegation was
‘baseless’.
According to Mercy who revealed the
matter by putting up on her Instagram
page an image of a battered woman
with a text; “Say no to domestic violence. Only a coward hits a woman!
Real men don’t hit”, she had endured
domestic violence for a long time in her
marriage but the latest was one beating
too many.
Those close to the couple said the latest
fight was so brutal that the actress had
pictures of swollen face and broken jaws
to show on the social media. We
gathered that Mercy later landed in the
hospital for treatment.
But the actress’ husband who swiftly
replied her Instagram post with “Say no
to promiscuous and irresponsible
women”, constantly denies ever beating
her.
Two days after the story of their fight
was broken, this magazine spoke with
Mr Gentry on the matter but he waived
it, claiming that “my wife is acting movie, never mind those spreading the rumour. We are not fighting.”
About this time though, we gathered that
Mercy had taken her case to the Lagos
State Ministry of Women Affairs, Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Domestic and Sexual Assault Response Team, and the Office of the Public Defender, from where the matter was moved to Ikeja Magistrate Court.
Sources said that the actress succeeded in obtaining a court order to take custody of the two kids she had with Gentry. This also, Gentry rebuked while informing this magazine that he had briefed his lawyer to counter the actress’ move and return the kids to him.
Five times, this magazine called Mercy Aigbe’s phone number to ask for her comments on the matter and two times, messages were sent to her WhatsApp page, but she did not pick the calls and neither did she reply the WhatsApp messages.
However, as the magazine went to bed, information reached us that the actress had opened up in an interview with Broadway TV stating her own story.
Speaking to this magazine on his way to
detention, the 52 years old socialite
insisted his wife cooked up the
allegation of beating against him
because “she realized that I have found
out her escapades with other men”.
“Mercy sleeps with other men and she
knows that I know. That is why she’s
putting up all these allegations against
me. But I have never beaten my wife.
One man rented an apartment for her
while she is under my roof. I get calls
from who gives him updates on her
movements. Mercy can tell me she’s
somewhere but I would find out she’s
somewhere else not where she told me she was. My brother, it is fight to the
finish. I will tell you more. But I want to
appeal to Governor Ambode to also set
up a ministry of men affairs where we
men too can lodge complaints about our
wives,” said Gentry.
Meanwhile, sources outside Lanre and
Mercy’s house told this magazine that
the couple’s main problem was trust.
“They have trust issues,” posits a close
source, adding that the present issue
with the couple was foreseen ‘a long
time ago’, but that it had never been this
bad.
This is not the first time domestic
violence allegations have trailed Mercy
Aigbe’s marriage. In 2013, it was
reported that Mercy Aigbe was beaten
up by her husband at a public event.
The event allegedly happened on
Sunday April 7, 2013 at a recorded TV show. According to reports, as the show was about to end, Mercy allegedly
disappeared from the side of her
husband who accompanied her to the
show. After about an hour, said the
report, the husband was forced to tell
the MC of the event to announce his
wife’s disappearance. When that didn’t
work, he went on the search himself.
And when he almost caused a scene,
the report said that some people then
pointed a room to him where Mercy who
got to the event in a black dress had
changed to a night gown!
Presently, we gathered that some friends of Lanre were meeting to push for his release from detention while other well-
wishers are trying to reconcile him with Mercy. The court has adjourned their case till July 12, 2017.
-Akin Sokoya with Folorunsho Hamsat
