Suspected gay husband brutalises wife, celebrates in court

It all started like a scene from a bad movie script. Gloria Izuakor woke up on the morning of 23rd of January without an inkling of what the day had for her. Though quite unwell, she managed to drag herself out of bed to do her house chores.

But before the end of the day, Gloria ended up a patient at an undisclosed hospital in Lagos, with a deep gash on her head, courtesy of Jude Izuakor – her husband of close to 10 years.

Her account: “I woke up on that morning feeling sick, but I managed to stand up to do the normal Saturday cleaning; on other days I used to wake up earlier, but because I wasn’t feeling too well, I didn’t get up at the usual time.”

As she was cleaning the remaining part of the house, a duplex, Izuakor her husband came in with a friend; a young man of about 25 years and signs that something evil was going to happen began.

“He started abusing me, that didn’t I see he has a visitor and that I should leave the place at once? In anger, he took hold of the bucket I was using to mop and the mopping stick and threw them away from the balcony, thereby splashing water on the area that had already been cleaned in the process.

“I barely protested when he threatened to kill me and very quickly he used the wine opener that was in his hand dug it deep into my face,” she narrated.

A history of abuse

According to Gloria, this is not the first time that she would be abused or assaulted by Jude; it is something she has lived with all through her marital years.

“He has been beaten me for long; I carry all over my body marks of injuries he has been inflicting on at different times for so long.

“If you check all my body, you will see different scars. Even last year January, when we travelled to the village for the yuletide, he poured wine on me and subsequently, I refused to come back home because of the several beatings he has subjected me to.”

We were subsequently invited to a meeting by his kinsmen who warned him seriously to stop assaulting the mother of his children, but that didn’t stop him.”

The problem abated only for about two months then it started all over again with the man daring her to call his kinsmen again, assuring her she won’t be alive to tell the story.

The latest assault on Gloria however, landed him in court.

Appearing like a superstar before Judge G.L. Hotepo of the Kirikiri Magistrate court, Jude Izuakor appeared unremorseful and unrepentant of his crime; indeed, he came to court to celebrate his crime.

In the build-up to his appearance in court, Izuakor is quoted to have said the injury he inflicted on his wife ‘was too little to warrant advocacy’.

After his appearance before the court and the subsequent adjournment of the case, the wife beater actually invited photographers to snap away while he posed like a celebrity heading for the red carpet.

Jude is gay – wife

A new twist however came to light as Gloria revealed that her husband of ten years is a homosexual.

“The man is marrying his fellow men,” she stated categorically. “He moves around with under aged men.”

The traumatised woman also alleged that her husband was in the habit of bringing strange men into her house and spending time with them

“Whenever he brings in his male friends, I have to vacate the bedroom for them and move to the guest room and the men take over my matrimonial bed and kitchen while Jude does nothing to deter them.”

According to Barrister Christian Love, counsel of Women Arise; a civil and human rights advocacy group in a chat with newsmen at the court premises, he stated that there would be an inquiry into the allegation of homosexuality levelled against the husband.

“There is an allegation of him inviting his male friends into the house, entering the matrimonial bed and taking over the woman’s kitchen while threatening her that she has no place in the house.

“When we are done with this case, we are going to start investigation and subsequently prosecuting that case of the alleged homosexuality.

According to Joe-Okei Odumakin, the President of Women Arise, the beating of Gloria and the subsequent scar of a lifetime inflicted on her is one beating too many that calls for justice to be done in the case.

“It became even more alarming when Mr. Jude Izuakor, despite the grave cuts he had inflicted on his wife, still threatened her while receiving treatment. We urge the judiciary to uphold the integrity and sanctity of the law by meting out requisite punishment to this evil perpetration to serve as a deterrent to other men who are still in the habit of turning their wives into a punching bag,” Odumakin said.