Family members, friends and well-wishers, who gathered at a church in Jos to witness the wedding between Mr Rufus Aplang and his bride, Judith, were on Saturday thrown into confusion as the groom walked out on his spouse and never returned.
Eyewitnesses told our correspondent in Jos on Sunday that the incident happened at the God’s Glory Ministry.
According to them, Aplang stormed out of the church when it was time to take the marital vows.
One of the guests, Mrs Charity Bulus, told our correspondent that trouble started when the groom was asked by the officiating pastor if he would take Judith as his lawfully wedded wife, a question which he answered in the negative.
Narrating the incident, Bulus said, “It started like a drama. The groom, Aplang, was asked in front of the altar by the officiating pastor if he would take Judith as his wife for better, for worse. He replied with a no.
“The pastor put the same question to him again and he replied, ‘Pastor, I heard you clearly and understand English very well and my answer is still no’.
“Then, the pastor said to him, ‘But you are well dressed and came ready for this wedding,’ and he replied, ‘‘Sorry, I made up my mind 10 years ago to disgrace her on our wedding day’.
“As soon as he said that, he walked out of the church and was followed by his best man and his friends, who drove out of the church premises and never returned.
“The bride, who was shocked by the action of the groom, collapsed inside the church and was taken to a hospital around the Plateau State Polytechnic in Jos.”
The groom’s best man, who identified himself as Peter Sani, described the incident as unbelievable
He said, “Aplang is my childhood friend; Judith has been a friend and sister too and he dated her for over 12 years.
“I was in the church to serve as the best man and also to witness their wedding, but I was shocked and highly disappointed with what happened in the church on Saturday.”
Sani, who attributed his friend’s behaviour to some sort of diabolism, added that Aplang’s action was not ordinary.
He added, “This is not ordinary; Aplang will always confide in me on any issue; if he had the plan to walk out on the bride, he would have told me.
“What happened on Saturday was unimaginable. I came out of the church weeping profusely, because the whole thing is strange.”
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