How Reno Omokri was cleared of ex-wife’s abuse allegation in 2018

Reno Omokri was cleared of allegations of abuse and physical assault made by his ex-wife Tuokpe Onuwaje as far back as 2018, TheCable can report.

Onuwaje, a school teacher, was the first wife of the ex-media aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan. The couple have three children together.

But on Sunday, she took to social media to accuse Omokri of domestic violence. She claimed she “tolerated physical abuse” in their marriage, alleging that Omokri’s assault left her with a “swollen jaw, ruptured eardrums, and weeks of pain”.

“After the first instance of violence, I made excuses, thinking I must have provoked the anger. I even had to endure seeing my daughter witness another slap. And there was the morning I woke up to find blood on my pillow,” her Instagram post reads in part.

Onuwaje’s Instagram post followed after Omokri shared a picture he took with his wife Hanna on X, formerly Twitter.

In the tweet, the author described Hanna, who is believed to be from Ethiopia, as “a beauty queen who has devoted her life to God and me”.

Omokri also praised her for being a woman who “does not know how to quarrel and is incapable of malice”.

Today, I want to praise my wife. She is a beauty queen who has devoted her life to God and, after Him, to me. My mother spoiled me. And I thought spoiling was over for me. Then, I married my wife and got another mother, a pure met-at-home lover. A woman who does not know how to… pic.twitter.com/2FXxiLBPmd

—Reno Omokri (@renoomokri) September 7, 2024

However, Onuwaje cast doubt on Omokri’s remark of a harmonious marriage. In her Instagram post, she argued, “now you claim to be happily married to a woman who doesn’t “quarrel”. Good luck to her, because you always wanted someone you could control and intimidate”.

She made the post as Omokri was being touted as a possible replacement for Ajuri Ngelale, the presidential spokesman who stepped aside on September 6.

TheCable recently contacted the legal authorities in Contra Costa County in California, United States, and is in receipt of a letter by the Children and Family Services clearing Omokri of abuse allegations made by his ex-wife.

In the letter dated August 28, 2018, and addressed to Omokri, the authorities stated that they had received allegations of physical abuse by the author towards one of his children.

The family service said the allegations — which placed Reno at risk of abusing his two other children — were investigated and “closed as inconclusive”.

The agency added that Omokri’s “children reported no safety concerns” when in his care.

Further investigation also showed that the marriage between Omokri and Onuwaje had been officially dissolved nearly two decades ago.

TheCable recently obtained a decree from the Lagos high court confirming the union was dissolved on August 25, 2005 due to “irreconcilable differences”.

“The court therefore decreed that upon and subject to the Decree of the Court becoming absolute, the marriage solemnised on the 12th of June, 2004, between Tuokpe Omokri and Reno Omokri is hereby dissolved,” the legal document reads in part.

Additionally, public records show that Onuwaje has not associated herself with the surname ‘Omokri’ on social media platforms since 2007.

Since their divorce, she has also posted about being in a relationship with another man at least once.

Police records seen by TheCable also showed that Onuwaje had previously contacted the authorities on different occasions regarding two of her brothers.

In 2021, Omokri and Hanna welcomed a baby girl named Ebele.