Ezinne Akudo, former Miss Nigeria and a lawyer, has finally spoken out about the long-standing rumour alleging that she was once married to Nigerian footballer Emmanuel Emenike.
In a recent interview that has since gone viral, the 2013 beauty queen firmly denied the claim, stating it was completely false and that she had been just as surprised as everyone else when it first emerged.
“I’ve actually never addressed that. But I’ve never been married,” she said.
The interviewer, clearly surprised by her response, tried to dig deeper. Ezinne doubled down on her statement, adding:
“No, you’re joking. That’s why I said this answer will shock you. The person in question, I have never met in my life. I’ve seen him because I attended his wedding his wife was someone I knew.”
For years, social media users and blogs have circulated the narrative that Emenike was previously married to a Miss Nigeria before tying the knot with former beauty queen Iheoma Nnadi. However, Ezinne made it clear she was not that person.
She explained that at first, she laughed off the story, thinking it would fade on its own but it didn’t.
“It’s gone on for like years now… The first time the story came out, I thought it was a joke. But then it kept popping up every few years. I never knew that the story would stick the way it did. If you Google it, it’s there like some confirmed truth. But I’ve never been married, never been divorced, and I’ve never met the person in question. I fear who no fear media,” she said.
Her clarification has been widely praised, with many viewers applauding her for finally speaking up and setting the record straight.