Who wants to marry a billionaire? - The case of Mrs Mercy Ogbedo

Getting married to a billionaire would be nothing but a dream-come true for most ladies but 45-year-old Mercy Ogbedo is probably wishing that dream never came true for her.

Mrs. Mercy Ogbedo

Mrs Ogbedo, who currently lives in London, claims she was duped into marrying a billionaire after realizing that the man already had another wife in Benin Republic.

Now, that is not much of a problem, right? Well, the real problem is that after dragging the man to court and losing the case, she has been asked to pay him £100,000 in damages.

According to MailOnline, her trouble began in 2002 when she married shipping magnate Moses Taiga in an elaborate ceremony in Nigeria where her feet were washed by village elders and her bride price paid.

They had twins together but she has spent more than 10 years in British courts pursuing financial benefits for the sake of her children. A British court ruled that she be paid £300, 000 a year based on the marriage ceremony but Mr Taiga approached a Nigerian High court which ruled October last year, that she would not get a dime because her marriage to the man was not only invalid but a “non-marriage”.

The Court held that it could not hand over any of Mr Taiga’s fortune because he was never legally married to Mrs Ogbedo. How?

In the words of her Lawyer, Timothy Scott, she realized that in 1974, Mr Taiga wed at an Anglican church in Benin Republic. He however said he found it “incomprehensible that the court insisted that although the Nigerian Law permitted more than one wife, the 2002 marriage was invalidated by Mr. Taiga’s church wedding to a woman in Benin Republic in 1974.

Mr. Moses Taiga

 To rub salt to injury, she was ordered to pay Mr. Taiga £100,000 to cover 80 per cent of his legal costs in the series of complex court hearings.

Mrs Ogbedo was in a Court of Appeal in London on Thursday where she had been challenging the order. But she lost again. The court refused to overturn the order although the Court of Appeal judge, Lord Justice McFarlane said he had “real sympathy for the wife’s position”.

He said he could not allow her to appeal over a divorce payout because “there was no marriage on which English law could bite”

She was however given permission to appeal the £100,000 legal cost pay-back because the sum was arguable unfair, and “She has the sole care of the parties’ children and is a lady of limited means”.

But her lawyer, Scott says: “The wife says she was duped. She should be permitted to apply for financial relief in England by virtue of that marriage ceremony”

Now, here is another one: Since his split from Mrs Ogbedo, Mr Taiga has also ended his 1974 Benin marriage. He is now married to another woman, Yinka, with whom he has quadruplets.

Taiga's current wife, Yinka.