Ex-militant bathes former lover with acid

Barely three years into the affair, Austin, shattered the promising life of his lover with a cruel acid bath. Today, after battling to survive with a year-long intensive care at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, UBTH, Benin, Edo State, Juliet still requires over N5 million lifeline for a medical trip to Indian, as she struggles to pick up the pieces of her devastated life. … in the beginning Juliet met Austin while working at a fast food centre in the Niger Cat neighbourhood of Ekpan, Delta State, where her father, Pastor Sunday Osimen, farmer and Head at the Mountain of God’s Grace Ministry in the area, also owns a modest home
Recalling the good times, Juliet said: “Austin was very generous in the relationship and often granted most of the requests I made. As a result, I hardly hesitated when he started making proposals for marriage and coming close to my family. “When we met, he was living with his uncle at Nnewi Street, off Aka Avenue, Effurun. “As the relationship grew, we rented a self-contained apartment at satellite Ugolo community, Okpe Council area, where we shared privacy occasionally, while I still lived with my parents. ‘My fears’ “Though, I cherished his uncommon generosity towards me and my siblings, I started getting worried about the source of his income, which to me did not connect with the generator repairs job he told me he does for a living. “My suspicions were confirmed the day we went to Obiaruku for the marriage of his friend. There is a particular bag he does not allow me or anyone else touch at all. “This fateful day, as he was having an after wedding drinking spree with friends in the hotel we lodged, I opened the secret bag in our room. “I was shocked by two items I found. An identity card as a Federal Government Amnesty beneficiary and a document list of guns and other dangerous weapons submitted by his group during the arms mop up. “From that moment, my interest in the affair died and I wanted out immediately. I knew I was living with an unrepentant criminal because he is easily irritated and always bragging about how tough he is and how he can deal with anyone and go away with it. Conflict “That night at Obiaruku, I confronted him on his criminal identity and why he kept it from me. He said he was worried I would leave him and he does not want to lose me. “That moment, I made it clear I was no longer interested and would not marry a criminal disguising as repentant. I meant every word of it. “But I knew it was dangerous to make a sudden quit, so I started limiting my contact with him and thinking of how best to stop the affair permanently. “Then, I further learned that the man I was planning to marry is a father of three, married to a woman elsewhere. “I confronted him. He admitted and again said he kept that from me for fear of losing me. He said he could not do without me, so he wants me as second wife. I said over my dead body. … and the threats began “As I gradually limited my contact with him, he introduced a catch phrase whenever the issue of breaking the relationship came up. “He would say, ‘You can’t leave me. If you try it, I will so damage you that no man would want to look at you, so I will still be the only one to marry you.’ “I could tell from his anger and tone, whenever he says it, that this was no empty threat, but I needed to get out of the affair.
“I trained as a hair stylist and work for a salon owner, while also doing home service for some clients on Sundays.