Nollywood actress Peggy Ovire has accused her estranged husband, actor Freddie Leonard, of avoiding divorce proceedings after allegedly failing to appear before the customary court despite being legally served.
In a viral social media post, Peggy claimed that Freddie had requested a divorce but failed to personally show up in court when the matter came up, sending his lawyer instead.
According to the actress, Freddie allegedly stayed away from court after he was served with her petition and saw the details of the allegations contained in it.
“You said you wanted a divorce, yet you didn’t show up when you were served,” she wrote.
She further warned him not to avoid the next customary court sitting fixed for June 23, saying she would appear with evidence to ensure that the divorce process is concluded.
“Please don’t avoid customary court for the second time on June 23 because I’m coming with receipts and let’s make this divorce done and dusted,” she said.
Peggy also challenged Freddie and the woman she alleged was involved in the breakdown of their marriage to attend the next court sitting, claiming that the matter should be resolved openly before the customary court.
The actress alleged that Freddie initially ran to bloggers to deny her claims, but refused to appear in court after being served and after seeing the details of her petition.
“You ran to a blogger that I was lying, but when you were served and saw details of my petition, you knew I had seen one out of many, yet refused to show up in court but sent your lawyer,” she alleged.
Peggy also accused Freddie of infidelity, alleging that he was involved with a married Igbo woman with four children, whom she claimed had attended their wedding.
She alleged that she had evidence of hotel meetings and private conversations between Freddie and the woman, including messages in which he allegedly expressed that he missed her while still married.
The actress said the alleged affair was particularly painful because she had earlier believed the woman was only a friend of her husband.
In an earlier post, Peggy had written about discovering that a husband was allegedly involved with a married woman who had children, claiming that the woman visited hotels and apartments with the man while both marriages were still subsisting.
The public controversy comes after months of speculation about the state of Peggy and Freddie’s marriage. Fans had earlier noticed that Peggy had stopped using Freddie’s surname on social media and had also stopped wearing her wedding ring in some public posts.
Peggy and Freddie got married in November 2022 in a high-profile ceremony that attracted attention across the Nigerian entertainment industry.
However, reports of crisis in the marriage began circulating months after the wedding, although neither party publicly confirmed the full extent of the dispute until Peggy’s recent posts.
Sources close to Freddie have reportedly denied the cheating allegations, claiming that the marriage broke down due to irreconcilable differences, marital disrespect and unresolved domestic issues.
As of the time of this report, Freddie Leonard had not personally responded to Peggy’s latest allegation that he failed to appear in court after being served.
The next customary court sitting is expected to hold on June 23.
