.

1.My friend works in a coffee shop not too far from

me and I go there whenever I am bored at home to

have some snacks and also to chill with my friend.

Most times, when I visit, I notice a particular

lady that comes around. She buys some snacks and

coffee. Sometimes we buy a take-out while some

other time, she sits and reads a book. I noticed

her for some time and I started to take an interest

in her. One fateful day, I walked up to her and

introduced myself. We exchanged pleasantries, I

told her my name and she introduced herself as

Shantel. She had a very beautiful smile which I

complimented her about. I told her I have been

noticing her for some time and to my surprise she

has been as well. I asked if I could join her, she

said it was fine. I complimented how she looked,

she thanked me and she asked me where my accent is

from, I told her I am Nigerian. She smiled and told

me that she has heard both good and bad things

 about Nigerian men on the internet. I laughed about

it and asked what she heard about Nigerian men. She

smiled and said she heard that they were very good

lovers and also good heartbreakers. We laughed

about it and told her she was right about us being

good lovers and not sure about us being

heartbreakers.We laughed so hard. We talked about

some random stuff and she was really good company.

I told her I liked her and would like to be her

friend.She said it is fine and she would like to be

my friend as well. When she was about to leave, we

exchanged phone numbers and I promised to call her.

Then shensaid goodbye and left.

2.After that day, we became acquainted. We talked

every chance we had. Sometimes we meet at the

coffee shop and have snacks together. Things

gradually progressed between us for months. We

started hanging out more often, going to the

movies, talking more on the phone on a personal

level. I liked her the more with each passing

 month. She was like the presence I needed at that

time of my life. On the 14th of February,

Valentine’s Day, I officially asked Shantel to be

my girlfriend. She agreed.

3.That evening, for the first time, I saw her in a

different light. We talked about our likes and

dislikes, family, dreams, etc and I assured her of

her place in my life. I started to take her

seriously and tell her everything about me. She

also told me some things about her. The evening

ended really well and we went home happy.

4. I sometimes invite her over whenever I cook and

she always has something good to say about my

cooking. Sometimes she also invites me over to her

house and makes me stay back late watching movies

together and sharing knowledge about just anything

together. On one of the evenings I spent at her

apartment, we were seeing a movie, one thing led to

another, we made out. It was great and I really

wanted more but we had to stop because I had to go

 as I was to have an early morning start the next

day.

5.Shantel was a gift by nature to me. We bonded

really well over so many things. She is an

intellectual with the exact dose of femininity,

just the way I liked it. She is outgoing and really

understands my every mood. She was kind and

observant of me while we dated. She knew how much I

loved gifts and always went out of her way to make

me happy even though I earned more than her.

6.One day, Shantel came over with a gift box in hand.

She handed it over to me. I opened it and saw that

Shantel got me a designer perfume and wristwatch I

had had for the longest time on my online shopping

cart. She said she saw that I didn’t have that

color of wristwatch and my perfume was also

remaining little and since she had access to my

phone, she decided to order it for me. This left me

speechless and I wondered what I did to deserve

her.
7.There were some days when we had disagreements too

but she makes sure to apologize whenever she is

wrong and I do as well. No matter how long we

quarreled, Shantel looked out for me and I did the

same. This was something I love about our

relationship, fights don’t last long and we

understand that we still have to care for each

other regardless. .

8.We dated for some time and I knew that asking

Shantel to marry me was one of the best decisions

of my 2018. Her acceptance to be my wife even made

me happier. I was deeply in love with her.

9.it was best for her to move in with me. My joy was

made complete; I now have Shantel to myself. She

was everything I asked for in a wife; supportive,

thoughtful, homely, calm, great cook, my playmate,

etc.

10. No matter how busy we were, Shantel made sure

we had family time away from work and our extended

 families. She always packaged it in a surprise and

I never saw it coming.

11. I also try to reciprocate the love that my wife

showers on me. I know she likes surprises as much

as I do so I try most times to put up surprises.

There was a time she went out and I decided that I

would surprise her with dinner. I made jollof rice,

which I know she liked a lot with marinated

chicken. Before she came back, I had the table set

and as she walked in, she was surprised and all

smiles. She walked over to me and gave me a deep

kiss. We sat down and ate together and told me it

was very delicious. The night ended with us making

love.

12. While we were married, sometimes my wife would

excuse herself to take some calls.Which I never had

any problem with because I felt it might be some

personal calls. Whenever we are together, her phone

is always on silent and I found that very

thoughtful of her, since she wouldn’t want anything

 to disturb our time together. The phone would ring

sometimes and when I noticed and asked her why she

won’t pick, she would say she is sure it is no one

important. I believed her. Sometimes she would put

the phone off when it started ringing

uncontrollably.

13. Everything between us was going fine until one

day, she took my phone to take some pictures and a

chat popped in from a family member. She asked who

the person was, I told her it was a family member

back home in Nigeria. She asked why we would be

talking every time and said she wasn’t comfortable

with it so I should discontinue from the

conversation. I told her I would not do that

because she has done nothing wrong to me besides

she’s my family. This caused an issue for both of

us that my wife refused to talk to me or eat with

me. I decided to tell my family member what had

happened and begged her to keep our conversations

civil while contacting me when it was necessary.

14. I told my wife that I had cautioned my family

member and her face lit up with joy. She said she

didn’t want to lose me and she’s scared that I will

start sending money home and we won’t have any

savings left. She resumed talking to me and that

night we made love as she had also starved me of

sex while the issue lasted.

15. After that incident, I started to get a lot of

suspicious movement from my wife. She always wants

to know who I am talking to or when I send money

home and how much. She went as far as telling me

not to speak in my local language whenever she is

in the house with me and also doubled up on

learning my language. I talk to my family using my

local language which is Igbo. I did all she asked

just to let peace reign in the house.

16. She stopped me from attending my native events

happening in NY or insists we go together and I was

never to speak my native language when greeting

anyone. She also started taking more calls than

 usual. I found it very suspicious but I just let it

go. When I ask her, she would say she was talking

either to her mom or one of her friends.

17. While this was going on, I never stopped

playing my part in the house. I still picked up

bills, got Shantel gifts, provided for the smooth

running of the family too. On my wife’s part, she

stopped being supportive of me, would barely make

food at home, spent more time on her phone,

chatting with someone and smiling every time. She

generally was becoming cold towards me such that,

even our Sex life suffered. My wife is a very

sensual woman and she enjoy sex so much. I know

that if she isn’t getting sex from me, she was

definitely getting it somewhere else.

18. Things got so bad that I could not talk to my

wife any longer without getting a cold response or

getting lashed out. Thoughts started coming to my

head about what I did wrong or what I am not doing.

I started thinking if I was never satisfying her

 sexually or probably she found something on my

phone that got her to start acting the way she is.

I asked her severally about what was happening and

how bad it is affecting our marriage. She would

respond that nothing was wrong and she does not see

anything wrong with our marriage and the marriage

is fine to her.

19. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when

I found out that my wife was cheating on me. The

incessant calls she avoided started to make sense.

Also she spending so much time with her phone as

well. This discovery broke me into pieces. I never

could have thought that my once peaceful and happy

marriage would take such a turn. When I confronted

her about my findings, she became all defensive

about me being a foreigner and didn’t know how else

to handle her insecurities. In a feat of anger, and

venting, she said that this was why she has not

allowed herself to get pregnant for me.

20. The discovery broke me. I could not believe

that the woman I adored and loved so much would do

this to me. That particular day, we got into an

argument where she intentionally hurt herself and

threatened that she would call the police on me.

She threatened to tell the police that I was the

one who hurt her and I will get arrested and sent

back to Nigeria. I could not recognize my wife

anymore. I pleaded with her not to call the police,

which she did. She started to do this severally,

knowing that I was at her mercy. She made sure I

had little or no contact with my family back in

Nigeria and also made sure that I never questioned

any of her actions.

21. My marriage to my wife was because I loved,

respected and appreciated her. I didn’t know how or

why everything went sour. I lived in constant fear

that one day the police would come in to arrest me

for “hurting” my wife. It got so bad that whenever

 I am at home and I hear the police siren, I get so

scared.

22. I make the above statement freely and with the

intention that it be relied upon immigration

proceedings and with the knowledge that I may be

called upon to testify as to the truth or otherwise

my statements as stated in my affidavit.

Sincerely,

____________________________