By Desire Emmanuel
An Abuja-based church, Holiness Revival Movement Worldwide, has expelled a newly married woman, known simply as Oyiza, from its congregation for allegedly refusing to consummate her marriage with her husband, Isaac.
The couple, who were based in Ibadan, Oyo State, were joined in matrimony on September 6, 2025, after completing their traditional rites in Okene, Kogi State, and a court wedding in Ibadan, Oyo State.
However, shortly after the ceremony, the marriage ran into crisis as the bride resisted her husband’s attempts at intimacy, insisting that she did not love him.
She reportedly accused her mother of coercing her into the marriage.
In a video posted on the church’s YouTube channel in February, the International Director of the movement, Pastor Paul Rika, announced the expulsion of Oyiza after five months of failed mediation.
The husband, while giving details about the matter, said he was surprised on their wedding night when the wife refused to sleep with him.
He said: “After the wedding, she started complaining again that she no longer had feelings for me. She had also started misbehaving, but because of the fervent love I had for her, I accommodated her deficiencies and lapses, thinking that things will change.
“After the marriage, in the hotel where we lodged, I touched her, but she said we should wait for a brief period of time. I asked for her reasons, she did not give me any cogent reason.
“She had also said she did not like sex all the time. I was also a virgin and was not involved in such things. I agreed we won’t make love in the hotel. So, we said when we get to Ibadan.
“Her mother and I accompanied her to the park. She started crying at the park, saying, ‘Mummy, can you see now, when I said I don’t love this man, can you see it now. See the condition you pushed me into now’.”
“Isaac said his in-laws pleaded with him to exercise patience and keep the matter private.
When the problem persisted, he said he reported to a church leader in Lokoja before escalating it to his pastor in Ibadan.
He said despite the intervention of his pastor and the wife, who reportedly broke down in tears during one of the counselling sessions, Oyiza remained resolute.
“She would tell me almost every time, ‘No love, no joy, no peace,’” he stated, adding that he became more confused and distressed as he had great love for her.
He further alleged that she accused him of attempted rape whenever he sought intimacy or initiated moves.
“It was a battle. Sometimes, she would just open up herself and say, ‘Do whatever you want to do.’ But I did not also know all these things.”
Isaac said counselling sessions organised by the church, including sexual guidance and support, yielded no positive result.
“It’s not just about sex. Even bathing. She said she loved me to bath at night. I bath virtually all night. But sometimes, if I don’t bath, she would hold my neck, telling me to go and bath. She would force me. Our leaders would intervene, asking her to release herself, but she refused.
“One day, she called some children into our room to discourage me from touching her. But I ignored the children and continued touching her. A Muslim woman, who is our neighbour, saw us arguing as she was saying, ‘Do you want to rape me?’ She queried her for saying that. But she said, ‘No, I don’t love him. I have told him before. My mother forced me.’”
He described the marriage as suffocating.
“If I came back from work, to sit on the dining table, she would say no. I was not even free until I bathed and changed my clothes. It was a struggle.
“In the kitchen, if she was cooking and I returned home tired, she would ask me to come and join her because I promised to assist her in the kitchen. Everything was like I was in a cage,” he added.
Isaac said he made series of efforts to show love and affection, but claimed that his wife did not reciprocate.
Oyiza was, however, not in church to respond to the claims and allegations levelled against her by Isaac.
