When
news broke towards the end of last week that the marriage of star actress,
Mercy Aigbe to Lanre Gentry was about to hit the rock, even with her pictures
showing her battered face all over the blogosphere, many people hoped that it
was a publicity stunt.
However,
as Saturday Beats learnt, the marriage may have fallen apart irretrievably. In
a chat with her estranged husband Lanre, he insisted that he had never beaten
his wife.
He
further claimed that the ace actress has mental illness which he said is
affecting her. Gentry revealed that Mercy had been battling the illness for a
while but that he had always been there for her all through the years they had
been together.
He
said, “I am not fighting with Mercy, she is the one plotting how to get out of
the marriage and I am not a party to that because I have never touched her and
I will never do so. She has mental problem and that is what is disturbing her
for now.
There
is a place I normally go to help her get herbal concoction to stabilise her
condition, I would go there soon to get the herbal remedy for her. I don’t care
about whatever anybody writes, I have granted an interview with the person that
I trust.” The auto dealer claimed that the mother of two had been unfaithful to
him, adding that she left his house for over a month. He said, “Mercy is
committing bigamy because she is still married to me and another man has rented
an apartment for her. She has left my house for almost a month and she has been
camped with the man.
Marriage is not by force, I cannot force her
to stay with me because I am not handicapped. She spends my money.
The
car she uses, I bought it for her and it cost me about N9.8m, I have the
receipt with me. I don’t have anything against Mercy but she should continue
with whatever she has against me.” During the week, it was reported that the
actress had obtained a restraining order against her husband.
But
in his words, Gentry regarded that restraining order as a “kangaroo
injunction.” “I don’t have any issue with Mercy. She has found a better offer
than the love I give her so she wants to move on. I have helped her career and
put her in the limelight but now she believes she needs another man that she
can dupe. I have God by my side.
I
still saw Mercy during the week, Wednesday to be precise. It was reported that
she obtained a restraining order against me but the truth is that it is a
kangaroo injunction. Is it possible for the court to restrain me from seeing my
child or a person that took my property out of my house? Is it possible? I
learnt she went to the police but they did not lend her a listening ear so she
decided to use the judiciary and we would meet there.
She
went to the Lagos State government and was told that they prefer to reconcile
marriages instead of dissolving them. I have never beaten Mercy and I would
never do such,” he said. When asked if he still loves his wife, the estranged
husband who has a child with the actress simply said, “For now I cannot say
that I love my wife but before, I loved her.” When Saturday Beats reached out
to the actress, a source from her camp who spoke on the condition of anonymity
said that it was laughable that Gentry would claim that the actress has mental
problems.
The
source said that the estranged husband turned the actress to his cash cow. “It
is a big lie, the truth is that Lanre Gentry has been living off Mercy’s hard
earned money. In fact, Mercy is his walking ATM.
He does not do anything and to make
matters worse, he does not pay the children’s school fees. The man is a mad
man. A court paper was served on him on Wednesday and when they took it to his
office, he claimed that he was Lanre Gentry’s personal assistant, unknown to
him that his picture was taken while he was signing for the document he
received.
He
is just shooting himself in the foot. “He knows within himself that Mercy can
afford to get a house in Lekki if she wishes to do so.
He
is just a pathetic liar and he should find another angle. Mercy does not have
mental illness and if he wants to dent her image, he should look for another
angle to do so,” the source said. Meanwhile the actress also refuted all claims
by her husband via her Instagram handle on Friday. She wrote, “Dear Lanre
Gentry, it breaks my heart that I have to do this but as it is, you have left
me with no choice. I have had sleepless nights because I just couldn’t
comprehend why someone I loved, someone with whom I have a child will be hell
bent on destroying me, I just cannot comprehend it.I read with tears in my eyes
all the lies you fabricated against me. Lies you feel will justify your
inhumane act, lies you feel will gain you public sympathy and lies calculated
to bring my person to public opprobrium.
You
claim I am mentally unstable, that you have caught me with different men. I do
not take care of my parents and that a man rented an apartment for me. LIES all
LIES. Dear hubby, I challenge you to back your claims with PROOF!!!!!!!!! Lanre
you forget quickly, you forget how I have laboured and stood by you all these
years, even though all what I was getting from you was constant beating,
harassment, threat to my life and threat to destroy my image if I dared to
leave you.
You
must prove all your allegations otherwise God knows I am going to add another
lawsuit to the one on ground. Although my Team has been pleading with me to
stay silent, but I have come to realize that you want to ride on my keeping
mum.” In a telephone conversation with Saturday Beats, she maintained that she
would rather remain silent on the matter till the court decides the fate of her
husband who has been charged with wife battery allegations. She said that she
believed in the Nigerian justice system and she is optimistic that justice
would prevail.