Shocking Story of How a ‘Naval Officer’ Conned and Lured Woman into Sham Wedding

A man who claimed to be an officer of the Nigerian Navy is currently enmeshed in what could best be described as a fraudulent marriage.

The man identified as Edward Benosa and who claimed to be attached to NNS Apapa, Lagos, wedded a lady (name withheld) in a Catholic church in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State in June 2014 while his first marriage was still intact.

Edward, it was gathered, allegedly tricked the woman in question to foot the bills of the wedding after he reportedly showed her a post- dated cheque of N1 million with which he claimed he intended to refund the expenses incurred by the lady.

Sunday Sun gathered that the naval officer met the lady in 2013 through a friend and they dated until

the lady became pregnant early in 2014.The lady who was a youth corps member as at the time they met, a reliable source explained, was also into business.

“Along the line, a lady started calling her on phone telling her to leave her husband but she took it as one of those things, thinking the caller was Edward’s ex-girlfriend. When he confronted Edward with it, he allegedly swore with his life that he had never been married and neither did he have any child,” the source disclosed.

Not pleased with his explanation, the lady demanded to meet his parents, a demand Edward acceded to.

“When they got to Lagos, the guy took her to Iba. On getting there, she saw the guy’s mother living with four children. She asked whose children they were and he told her that the children were his sister’s children.

They later retired to a hotel room where the guy lodged her and the lady asked him if he doesn’t have a house in Lagos. He responded by telling her that he lived in the same apartment with his mother but he could not lodge her there because he didn’t want his mother to see him camping a lady he had not married formally in his room because his mother knew him to be a pious person.

The lady said at that point she began to suspect that something was fishy. She said anytime she went to his mother’s house alone the children were always at liberty to play around but immediately Edward stepped in they would disappear.

She later decided to ask the mother whose children they were. Shockingly, the mother, who had earlier lied about the children, later said they were Edward’s children few weeks before the wedding. She told the woman that her son told her that the children were his sister’s. Then the mother reportedly told her not to be bothered about the children since Edward didn’t formally marry their mother and since the children were not going to live with them after their wedding.

When her pregnancy was four –months-old, Edward was said to have mooted the idea of getting the pregnancy terminated to the lady on the ground that he was financially handicapped at the period, a suggestion the lady kicked against because, according to her, the suggestion was against her faith.

According to the source, Edward claimed that his salary and other allowances were being withheld by the Nigerian Navy along with some other naval personnel for their refusal to embark on a military assignment.

“Edward later told her to look for money so that they could get married. He showed her a cheque of N1 million, which he claimed was given to him by his boss. The cheque, he said, would mature after the wedding and the lady would be able to recoup the expenses she incurred on the wedding. So they fixed a June, 2014 date for the wedding.

The lady, it was gathered, later secured a N500,000 loan from a bank with the intention of repaying the loan when the cheque matures after the wedding.

Curiously, Sunday Sun learnt that the lady was always responsible for Edward’s transport fares to and fro Enugu, his hotel bills and other expenses based on the understanding that his salaries were being withheld.

As preparations for the marriage approached its crucial stage, they were given Marriage Ban, a document would-be couple is expected to fill and sign with which the announcement of their proposed union would be made in their respective churches, but Edward refused to sign the document in his church in Lagos.

Sensing the implication of Edward’s refusal to sign the document the lady alongside Edward decided to make a private arrangement and got the document signed.

Since they had both agreed that the church wedding and the traditional wedding would hold on same day, Edward, who had repeatedly dodged the lady’s request to take her to his village in Delta State claiming he could not guarantee the safety of her pregnancy should she insist on visiting his village, succeeded in deceiving her.

“She wanted to go to his village but he said because she was pregnant. Let me use his language, “there are many witches in my village and I don’t want them to kill your unborn baby” so the lady did not travel to his village.

But when the man gave the name of his village in Delta State as Uzoro Village, the lady sent her younger brother to help her locate the said village. Her younger brother was said to have travelled to Delta State but could not locate the village within the local government area he was told the village was situated.

Before the wedding, they went to buy souvenirs and then returned to the hotel where Edward lodged. Then his phone rang but unfortunately for the guy, he was in the bathroom. So the lady had enough time to copy and save the number, she did not pick the call. When Edward returned, she told him to pick his call but he refused, claiming that the person calling him was a customer he was helping in clearing some goods, the source informed.

The lady, it was learnt, later called the number and the receiver would only compound her fear and suspicion.

“When she called the number the receiver said, ‘I have been waiting for you. I am currently living with Edward and we have three children. I am your Ibo sister from Imo State. Why are you doing this to your sister?’ She told her to ask Edward if what she said was untrue and to request Edward to take her to where he lived and where his belongings were,” the source said.

When confronted with the allegation, Edward, it was gathered denied having any wife or children saying, the caller was one of his ex-girl friends.

“The lady later confronted Edward’s mother with the same allegation but she also denied that his son was married to any woman. With this you can understand that the mother was also part of the whole fraudulent plan,” the source disclosed further.

A day to the wedding, Edward, Sunday Sun learnt, arrived with only his shirt and jeans trousers without any bag. The lady who was dumbfounded hurriedly went out with him and bought his suit along with that of his younger brother, who was the best man.

The lady who had expected that their wedding ceremony would be graced by naval personnel was further shocked as no naval personnel showed up at the wedding.

“As I am speaking to you the lady doesn’t know if the guy is truly a naval officer because the usual sword crossing which is a part of the ceremony when military officers are getting married did not take place during their wedding.

On the wedding day, the mother came with four other guests. They finished the church wedding and went to her village for the traditional wedding and the following day, which was a Sunday, they went for thanksgiving. And on the next day, which was Monday, Edward returned to Lagos.

Shortly after Edward returned to Lagos he started admitting that he was already married and that he has children. The woman who called her earlier also called back to taunt her, saying ‘I told you that you shouldn’t go ahead to marry him (Edward) and that he is my husband,” the source said.

Sunday Sun gathered that the lady was delivered of a baby boy in January but Edward had failed to live up to his responsibility as he was said to have abandoned the lady and her child.

But when contacted, Edward insisted that he is a naval officer but denied having been married to two other women before his marriage to the lady.

“It is not true that I have been married twice. I only married once before my marriage to her (the lady),” he said.

While expressing regrets over what he called a mistake on his part, Edward said the lady failed to yield to his advice that the pregnancy be terminated.

“The only mistake I made is that I went for the wedding, “ Edward lamented.

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