Mercy Ogbedo, 45, thought her dreams had come true in 2002 when she went through a picturesque marriage ceremony with Nigerian shipping magnate Moses Taiga.
Daily mail reports that, her feet were washed by village elders and a ‘bride price’ was paid for her, before the couple drank from the same cup, danced and cut an exotic wedding cake.
But Mrs Ogbedo, from Finchley, north London, who has two children by Mr Taiga, a billionaire who owns a string of London properties, says she discovered later that her husband already had a wife from 1974.
For more than a decade she has been petitioning the British divorce courts for financial support from Mr Taiga’s nine-figure fortune.
But last year a divorce judge ruled that despite the mother of two being ‘of limited means’, she could not be awarded a maintenance from Mr Taiga because he had their marriage voided in Nigeria.Instead she was ordered to pay £100,000 towards his legal bills.
Last year a Nigerian court found that the 2002 ceremony was not just invalid but a ‘non-marriage’ and she has no rights over his fortune.
The Court of Appeal in London has refused to overrule that decision, although Lord Justice McFarlane said he had ‘real sympathy’ for her predicament and has given her the right to appeal paying his £100,000 legal bill in the latest hearing.
Since splitting up with Mrs Ogbedo, Mr Taiga has ended his 1974 marriage and married a third woman, Yinka Taiga – with whom he has quadruplets.
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