Socialite Uju Murphy's marriage crashes. Opens up on alleged romance with FCMB MD, Ladi Balogun and the paternity of her last child

 Uju Murphy and Ladi Balogun

Lagos socialite and fashionista, Uju Murphy has admitted that her 8 year marriage to Murphy Ozohue has crashed. The estranged ex-couple are in court, and details about their relationship are in the public sphere.

Accused of sleeping with the MD of FCMB, Ladi Balogun, getting her husband in debt mess with the bank, as well as paternity palaver over her last child born last year, the lady granted Encomium magazine an interview to explain her side of the story.

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What is the court case between you and your husband all about?
Uju: "To be frank with you, I don't know. The way you read it in the papers is the same way I read it too. I heard there was a case but I haven't been served papers. So, I don't know what it is all about. I know it has something to do with FCMB, where we took a mortgage.

Your husband claimed that you took a N125m loan in his name from FCMB without his consent and squandered it. How true is this?
Uju: "That was not what he even said in the report. He said we took a loan and now he can't pay back and that I wanted to make him a slave to FCMB. That is too ridiculous. What we did with the loan is right there in Lekki. It was a mortgage, not a short term loan. it is 15year mortgage we took together in the name of the company to complete our houses in Lekki. As I speak with you, there are two houses that we built with that money. The house is where he is living till date with his mistress.

Was the loan actually taken with his consent?
Uju: "Of course. It was taken with his consent. We took the loan together. We signed the documents together. We did the medicals together. When he wasn't around, we used to DHL the documents related to the loan to him abroad, he would sign it and DHL it back to me. At a point the bank insisted that he had to come back to Nigeria to sign some documents, so he took out a week to and came home to sign it.

So the money is yet to be paid back?
Uju: "I know nothing about the loan after our separation. I left the company on my own. I left a stock worth more than N8m in the warehouse. There is no excuse why he should not pay back loan as at when due because he is supposed to be making sales. I don't know what happened. I haven't been in touch for almost two years.

Your husband also alleged that you are having an extra-marital affair with the MD of FCMB. What is your relationship with him?
Uju: "It is ridiculous. I was shocked to read that I was having an affair with Mr Balogun. I have never met him one-on-one, he doesn't even know me. So, I was surprised when I read the story. If you have a problem with the bank, go and discuss how you will pay back. How could you tarnish the innocent man's image? If you want to tarnish the image of your wife, why do you have to drag him into it?

What was responsible for your separation?
Uju: “A lot of factors were responsible. We separated in 2009. I really didn’t want to talk about it or wash my dirty linen in public, but since it has gotten to this extent, I have no choice than to talk and defend myself. Initially, we never planned for a long distance marriage. He told me he was going to relocate to Nigeria from Japan within a year. Then he met a Nigerian girl over there called Maltina Kabiri. Someone introduced her to work with him in his night club and they went into a relationship. I never knew anything about their relationship; I only knew that things weren’t the same anymore with us. He used to come bk every two or three years, but he started coming home once in a year or in two years. Then in 2009, prior to the separation I found out that my life and the life of my unborn child was in danger. There were a lot of diabolical things going on. Some strange diabolical men came to the house asking me to release my son for sacrifice. I never knew he was in cult. I refused to sacrifice my unborn child. Aside being a cult member, I also found out he was sleeping with his niece who has been living with us since she was 17. He had an affair with her under our roof through out our 8 years of marriage. So, eventually I left the house when I heard my son was going to be sacrificed. The night I ran away with my children, it was around 1.am. The gate was locked, I couldn’t drive out, I was wearing slippers. I had to use the pedestrian. I managed to escape. If not it would have been a different story. Then I came back in the morning with my family but he ordered the gatemen not to let us in.

Your husband claimed he’s not the father of you third and last child, Zigo, how true is this?
Uju: “He was in the country in July 2009 when I took in; he has never seen the boy or his picture. So, on what basis is he claiming the boy is not his? Does he have a DNA to show? Meanwhile, the boy looks like him. If my refusal to sacrifice my son for their rituals lead him to deny the boy, then so be it. However, we’ve mandated the divorce court to order for a DNA test, so let’s wait for the outcome.