Nollywood actor Yul Edochie has reportedly denied being married to Judith Austin despite having two children with her.
He described their union as a mere ‘skit’ amidst an ongoing divorce case with his estranged wife, May Edochie.
According to May’s legal team, led by Emeka Ugwuonye, Yul’s defence strategy is to claim his relationship with Judith was merely for ‘skit making’.
Ugwuonye said in Yul’s court filings, the actor claimed that rumours of his marriage to Judith were propagated by an Instagram blog, Gistlover, in pursuit of financial gain through false information.
The lawyer quoted Yul as saying, “…since the news of the birth of Star in June 2021, Gistlover, as a negative blog that thrives in fake and manipulated information for financial gains, has been negatively exploiting every movie or skit featuring me and Judy and generating social media traffic for financial gains.”
According to Ugwuonye, May’s legal team plans to counter Edochie and Judy’s anticipated argument that their public display of affection on social media was part of ‘skit making’.
The legal team further shared details of May’s petition and responses from Yul and Judith refuting claims of a traditional marriage ceremony between the latter.
Initially considering bigamy charges against Yul, May’s focus was said to have shifted to pursuing divorce on grounds of adultery and seeking damages from Judith.
According to Ugwuonye, May is not interested in seeing Yul imprisoned but seeks justice due to alleged threats and aggressive behaviour from her estranged husband.
Contrary to social media speculations, May’s legal representatives clarified that bigamy charges were not filed; instead, the case is proceeding on divorce grounds of adultery and seeking damages against Judith.
He said: ‘‘Each time bigamy was mentioned, she asked, “Will they arrest him?” And we would say: “Most likely yes.” She would refuse to approve it. You can understand that. Despite what Yul did to her, she didn’t want him arrested.
“The only option left was for May to file for divorce and to sue Judy for damages for adultery. Even at that, she didn’t want to rush it. It took until after the death of her child and Yul’s subsequent behaviours for her to file for divorce. As I have stated earlier, once May discovered the relationship between Yul and Judy, May refused to allow Yul access to her. She refused to allow him to have any intimacy with her.’’
The lawyer, as reported by Premium Times, noted that May maintained that Yul and Judy’s sworn statements admitting to their child together constitute conclusive evidence of adultery, forming the basis of her petition.
“May Yul-Edochie has nothing further to prove. Yul and Judy admitted in their sworn statements that they had a child together. That is conclusive evidence of adultery, which is the basis of May’s petition. The law does not require a person to prove what the other party has admitted or conceded,’’ her lawyers said.