New Telegraph

Super Eagles stars whose marriages crashed in bitter ways

With deep pockets and popularity, footballers are attracted to women. However, some Super Eagles players were unlucky with their love lives and the following stars saw their marriages crashed in bitter ways.

Taribo West

Taribo is one of the best defenders to have played for the Super Eagles; he also had a stellar club career having played for Auxurre of France, Inter Milan and Juventus in Italy. However, the footballerturned pastor did not have a marital success. The defender consummated a union with Atinuke Ekundayo in June 2000 in one of the most high-profile weddings that was at the peak of his career. However, the marriage packed up less than two years later due to irreconcilable difference. Atinuke alleged in her divorce petition that West beat her every time they had an argument. She also claimed that he refused to have sex with her. In a divorce suit filed at the Lagos High Court, the wife claimed Taribo made life unbearable for her and maltreated even her own people whenever they visited them. Although the footballer, who was already a preacher as at that time, denied all allegations and insisted that he married a wrong lady. They have since gone their separate ways. Atinuke has remarried.

Chikelue Iloenyosi

He is a defender with an incredible height; although he wasn’t a big name like Taribo, Chikelue still commanded some respect among his peers and made most of his money playing in Libya and Turkey. He enjoyed some close relationship with late Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi who was a fanatic football fan. However, at the height of his career the defender married one of the most beautiful Nigerians and delectable actress Stephanie Okereke. They got married in 2004 and by 2007 the five-year divorce battle instituted by the wife commenced. The A-list actress leveled accusations of bigamy, infidelity, and fraud against Iloenyosi. The actress packed out of their house in January 14, 2007 after she was reportedly confronted by her husband’s first wife and other women with whom he was allegedly having illicit affairs. She claimed that the former Fernabahce of Turkey player had a subsisting marriage with one Ijeoma Mba in the US and the lady was regularly harassing her. Chikelue repeatedly denied the allegations, insisting he had divorced with Mba before she married Okereke. The court eventually ended their union in 2012 and the actress has since remarried.

Ahmed Musa

One of the most celebrated divorce stories about footballers in recent years was the one involving the Super Eagles captain. Musa was regarded as one of the national team players who seemed to love his family; he constantly showed off several pictures and videos of his wife Jamila and their two kids on social media but it was a surprise when news broke that all were not well in the family. The situation became more worrisome when the then Leicester City player was invited by UK police for beating his wife. Reports later emerged that the crisis started when Musa informed his wife of his intention to marry another wife which his religion permits. Jamila never wanted to take anything like that which constantly caused fights between the couple. Musa filed for divorce shortly after and married his new heartthrob, Juliet, in 2017 and they have both welcomed a baby.

John Ogu

Out-of-favour Super Eagles midfielder, John Ogu, and his now estranged wife, Veronica, were two love birds who were the envy of others. The way the midfielder proposed to his wife was a testimony of the kind of love that existed between them. Ogu in October, 2015 proposed to Veronica after a league game in Israel. He celebrated his side Macabi Haifa’s 5-2 home win against Maccabi Petah Tikva at the Arthur Vesermil Stadium on Saturday, October 3 by bringing out his girlfriend, Veronica for a surprise proposal. In a video posted on his Instagram page, Ogu can been seen on his knees in front of his girlfriend with his jubilant teammates around him. He and his wife also did a photoshoot at his club’s stadium to announce her pregnancy. However, about two years after they consummated the union the marriage packed up. The crisis in the union came to the public knowledge when they both unfollowed each other on their social media platforms with Veronica removing ‘wife’ from her bio on the Instagram. The player later filed for divorce in court. The ex-wife later accused the footballer of abandoning their daughter, Ivanna, since they divorced.

Chidi Odiah

Odiah is certainly one of the best right backs to have played for the Super Eagles. He won bronze medals with Nigeria in 2006 and 2008 Nations Cup and one of the most respected because of being an introvert. However, the former CSKA Moscow star who is noted for his ‘shy nature’ did not enjoy his marriage which packed up in less than one year. Odiah met his estranged wife Uju is Port Harcourt and they courted for four years before they got married in 2010. The wife said they had several issues when they were dating and the footballer physically assaulted her on several occasions but she never bothered about it as she saw that as a normal thing in courtship. She said the abuse took a different turn when they got married; insisting that Odiah even attacked her when he visited her and their son Kenzo in the United States where she delivered of the baby. Odiah said his wife had no regard for him and that was why he asked his parents to inform her family of the intention to discontinue with the union. The marriage ended in eight months.

Yusuf Ayila

The defensive midfielder is one of the quiet members of the Super Eagles of his time but one of the most important. He was so good in his role that it was hard for national team coaches to drop him but despite his ‘quiet nature’ Ayila was tormented for years by unstable marriage She met his then wife Gbemisola when he was yet to hit success in his football career and they had been together since 1998. Trouble started when the former Union Bank player allegedly abandoned his wife in France after she gave birth to their second child there in September 2008. His longtime friend Taye Taiwo was contacted and the defender cleared her hospital bills and took mother and daughters into his home in Marseille. After several months in France at the Taiwos, the couple’s families in Nigeria got involved and Gbemisola reluctantly returned to the Ukraine to join Ayila. But her family in Nigeria also demanded a formal union, which led to their traditional wedding on August 2, 2009. Fresh problems in 2011 saw Ayila walk out of their apartment in Kiev and barred his family from visiting him at his new place. The player claimed that his wife was fetish as he saw several juju in her wardrobe in Ukraine, hence his decision to leave the house.

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