Cleric Allegedly Orders Police Arrest, Detention Of Ex-Husband
Cleric Allegedly Orders Police Arrest, Detention Of Ex-Husband
Ogbulu, in an exclusive interview with SaharaReporters, narrated how the alleged incident occurred, claiming that Chikere misled both him and her insurers over the whereabouts of the vehicle.
The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has arrested Martin Ogbulu, the ex-husband of Lagos-based cleric and founder of Heaven’s Gateway Ministries, Apostle Chikere Nwafor.
Ogbulu was reportedly arrested in Lagos by operatives of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) Annex in Alagbon, Ikoyi, Lagos, where he is being held over alleged cybercrime relating to reports published by SaharaReporters about the cleric.
“Martin Ogbulu, former husband of UK-based cleric Apostle Chikere Nwafor, has been re-arrested this morning. The ex-wife is using police to harass, arrest and detain him. He was initially arrested in Lagos on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, just hours after he claimed he narrowly escaped an attack by an unidentified masked individual at his hotel in Lagos. He was released and re-arrested again today,” a source said.
“The incident occurred near his hotel room when an unknown man, described as masked, allegedly attempted to gain access to him under unclear circumstances. Shortly after his life-threatening encounter, Ogbulu was taken into custody later the same day and has been remanded at the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) Annex in Alagbon, Ikoyi, Lagos.
“Since his arrest, he has alleged that he is being pressured while in detention to write, sign, and publicly read a statement which he claims does not reflect his account of events. He further alleged that the statement was prepared under duress and does not represent what he describes as the true nature of the circumstances surrounding both the alleged attack and his subsequent arrest.”
The latest arrest comes amid an ongoing and highly publicised dispute between Ogbulu and his former spouse, who has been accused of shipping her car from the United Kingdom to Nigeria and falsely declaring it stolen to her insurance company.
Ogbulu, in an exclusive interview with SaharaReporters, narrated how the alleged incident occurred, claiming that Chikere misled both him and her insurers over the whereabouts of the vehicle.
According to the British Nigerian, the first red flag appeared when he noticed that the car, which was usually parked in a designated space in the UK, suddenly disappeared without any prior discussion.
“When I saw that the parking space was empty, I asked her about it,” he had told SaharaReporters.
“She calmly told me that her cousins came to borrow the car.”
He further said the explanation given by Chikere appeared to be plausible at the time.
EXCLUSIVE: Ex-Husband Accuses Lagos-Based Cleric Chikere Nwafor Of Forgery, Church Fund Diversion, Death Threats In Bitter Property Dispute
Jan 06, 2026
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ex-husband, Martin Ugbulu
“She said her cousins were having a wedding or some family event and needed the car. She spoke so casually about it, so I didn’t suspect anything. I believed her.”
However, Ogbulu said his initial trust soon gave way to suspicion after an unexpected and urgent call from Chikere weeks later.
“More than a month later, she suddenly called me in a panic. She was begging me repeatedly, saying, ‘Please, my darling, help me. My insurance company is going to call you.’ ”
According to him, Chikere explained that she was already in Nigeria and claimed she was unable to communicate properly with her UK-based insurance company.
The British-Nigerian said the cleric informed him that she had already reported the vehicle to the insurance company and had sent them emails claiming it was stolen.
Not long after that conversation, Ogbulu said he received a call from the insurance firm.
“They called me and asked a direct question: ‘Is the vehicle in the house?’” he said.
“I told them the truth as far as I knew, that there was no vehicle there and I had not seen any car.”
Ogbulu said he did not attempt to contradict whatever Chikere may have already told the insurers, as he was unaware at the time that the vehicle had allegedly been shipped out of the country.
According to Ogbulu, the insurance company later paid Chikere a significant sum of money following the report.
“They paid her close to £17,000,” he alleged. “That was when everything started to make sense to me.”
He further claimed that the vehicle in question was a Lexus RX450h, which Chikere had reported as stolen.
“This is the same woman who owned a Lexus 458. She told people the Lexus was stolen.”
However, he alleged that the car was never stolen and was instead deliberately shipped to Nigeria.
“She shipped the car to Nigeria, and that is the same car she is using here. I have pictures of the car before it was shipped and pictures of it here in Nigeria,” he claimed.
Martin provided photographic evidence to back up his claims, insisting that the images clearly show the same vehicle in different locations.
“The car didn’t disappear. It was moved.”
He further alleged that this incident was not an isolated case, claiming that Chikere had a long-standing pattern of deceptive conduct.
Earlier, he accused the ex-wife of forgery, financial fraud, and plotting against his life, following a protracted dispute over church funds and jointly owned properties in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
He claimed that the cleric colluded with a surveyor to forge property documents in a bid to take sole ownership of a house they jointly built at Amen Estate, Lagos.
Ogbulu claimed he only discovered that his name was omitted from the property documents when he arrived in Nigeria in November 2024, despite fully funding the house alongside his former wife.
