NIGERIAN President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday recalled his envoy to Kenya Dr Chijioke Wilcox Wigwe following allegations that he battered his wife.
Wigwe was given 72 hours to hand over to his immediate deputy and report back home, said the recall signed by the Nigerian Foreign Affairs minister Odein Ajumogobia.
Kenya's Foreign Affairs assistant minister Richard Onyonka confirmed that Dr Wigwe had been recalled by his government and that Kenya had been dully notified of the same. "Now the matter has been sorted out,” he said referring to the request made by Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere that the Nigerian government lift Dr Wigwe's immunity so they could question him in connection with the complaint filed by Tess Wigwe.
Yesterday Wigwe issued a 20-page statement detailing his decades-long stormy relationship with his wife. "I married Tess Iyi Wigwe (nee Oniga) under native law and custom on 9th April 1978. The girl I married was famous for her temper and fighting ability. With my gentle and unassuming nature, I honestly believed that the sharp contrast in our characters could neutralize and complement each other. It was a grave error of judgment," Wigwe said.
He said that they lived separate lives for close to nine years. During that time, he confessed to 'hastily marrying' a colleague in 2002 after only knowing her for six months which was followed by an 'amicable divorce' in December 2006. He confirmed Tess's claim that he had called her to join him in Kenya when he got his posting. "It was another grave error of judgment. It was clear as crystal that our differences and her mistrust of me and our mutual dislike for each other’s company were insoluble but above all that our long evaporated love would never come back. Thus, we have been living in separate bedrooms connected by an inner door that is firmly and permanently locked from her side of the border. We decided to live with as minimal contact with each other as we could manage. Because she often refused to open her door, we developed the art of communication by notes pushed under the door. In public we manage to present a united front but those who are close to us know that we were only putting up appearances," he said, confirming claims made by Tess.
Wigwe cites instances when he alleged that his wife had directed her anger at the embassy staff as well as other people she came in contact with.
He cites an incident which occurred at his first diplomatic posting in Tokyo Japan when his wife allegedly beat another diplomatic colleague rendering her unconscious and in hospital for a month.
Following the incident, she was suspended from the post, repatriated back to Nigeria and only returned to rejoin her husband six months later in April 1989 after he and 150 diplomats were reshuffled. "Mrs Wigwe has so intimidated and assaulted many people in Nairobi, men and women and staff of the High Commission alike that the High Commission no longer holds dinners, luncheons and other mandatory functions in the Residence. Mrs Wigwe has assaulted and abused so many people at public gatherings in Nairobi that people fear to greet me when we meet at public functions," he claims.
Wigwe's statement also gives details of the incident in which his wife claims he beat her. He said he returned home from an official function, went straight to his room to remove his jacket when his wife marched in shouting at the top of her voice and telling him he should tell her when he would not be eating at home so that she did not prepare any meal for him.
She allegedly became more agitated and angry when he asked her why she had developed such an uncharacteristic interest in his welfare. "In her characteristic manner, Mrs Wigwe lunged at me to slap me. I tried defending myself and indeed my daughter came in the way and as we tussled and jostled around the door to her own bedroom where a massive wooden shoe rack was standing, Mrs Wigwe received a cut. Once she felt blood on her right side of face, Mrs Wigwe used her right hand to rub the blood and smeared her entire face with it. She ran into her bedroom and produced a camera and in the presence of my daughter and I, Mrs Wigwe photographed herself, taking two to three shots. She was shouting that she had got me, and that the whole world was going to see her bloodied face; that she was going to send the picture to Abuja. As my daughter and I tried to push her into her room to prevent her from coming to fight me, my daughter’s hand was caught in the bedroom door and she gasped in pain," said Wigwe's statement.
He said as he and his daughter Ada tried to restrain his wife, their son Nelson came to the scene and offered to wipe the blood from his mother's face. "With camera in hand, Mrs Wigwe ran downstairs and outside the building and for the next one hour was hurling abuses at me and shouting obscenities about me and my family and friends," Wigwe said.
A statement signed and delivered to the Star offices by the Wigwe's son Nelson stated that he was in his room when he heard his parents arguing and he went to see what it was all about. "When l arrived, l found my mother and father arguing in the hallway. My mother was yelling at me, 'Look at my face.Look What your father did.' I looked at my mother's face and she had some cuts and small amounts of blood on it," said Nelson's statement.
He said he tried to calm her down and took her to her bedroom to clean her face. She refused his attempts to clean her face saying she wanted to show everyone what his father had done to her. "She was not complaining of any pain. She was not holding any part of her body in pain. She was not dazed or confused, apart from the small cuts, she was fine," said Nelson in his statement.
He said he was surprised that instead of asking to be taken to hospital, his mother looked for her camera, and took photos of her face as she went outside to wait for a friend she called to come and pick her up.
He said his father locked her out of the house where she continued to hurl insults and abuses. At some point she picked up a potted plant and attempted to throw it before she took up a brick and hurled it at a window shattering it.
Nelson claimed he had not been coached by his dad or anyone to issue the statement and said he was doing it because he "cannot sit back and allow her to ruin my father's life and disgrace Nigeria like this."
Coincidentally, the statements by Wigwe and his son alluded to Tess's alleged desperate need to recoup an estimated 10,000 British pounds allegedly stolen from her and which was meant to pay the mortgage for a house she was buying in London.
Speaking glowingly of his father, Nelson expresses disgust at his mother's 'hypocrisy of her battered woman' claim and goes on to enumerate instances where he claims she has mistreated people, animals and even her own children.
The High Commissioner concedes paying the Sh27,800 hospital bill for his wife and daughter whose hand was injured in the scuffle. He said when his wife was discharged, she went to stay with a friend and only returned to the residence when she heard he had travelled to Abuja on Wednesday 18th May. "I affirm on my honour that I am not a wife beater. I affirm that in the many years that I have known and lived with Mrs Wigwe, she has always been the aggressor. That Mrs Wigwe is prone to using her fists first rather than engage in a debate or an argument to prove her case. If anyone is guilty of violence in my home, it is Mrs Wigwe. If anyone is a victim of domestic violence it is I. I have lost many spectacles over the years following Mrs Wigwe’s direct hit on my face.
Yesterday, Tess's lawyer Judy Thongori said she appreciated the decision of the Nigerian government to recall the diplomat. “We appreciate the govt has taken the mater seriously enough to take the first step. However, we hope the matter will not end with the recall and that full investigation and prosecution will follow in accordance with the law. Our concern is now with our client’s welfare and we hope that the Nigerian and Kenyan governments will ensure that her status and security are not prejudiced under the circumstances.” In reference to Wigwe’s statement, Thongori said that traditionally violence against women had always been justified.
Thongori said women in similar circumstances had ended up in a situation where they believe that they were to blame for the battering because of the way society reacted to such incidents and cited instances where the police have been quick to blame a rape victim on the basis of how she was dressed. "Dr Wigwe’s statement does not surprise me. It's an attempt to deflect the attention from the core issue which is — did he beat her or not on May 11? I hope the authorities and everybody who is concerned with upholding justice and fairplay will address this issue and not be distracted by the side issues,” said Thongori.
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