Domestic abuse is best described as an incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, threatening, degrading and inflicting physical injuries on an individual by another individual or group of individuals. Domestic abuse is very common in Nigerian romantic relationships. It could also be carried out by a family member or guardian. In our KOKO domestic abuse month, we will be highlighting and discussing this deep topic from the perspective of the most abused victims all over the world (Women).
From the dawn of time, domestic abuse has always been a common thing in at least 6/10 Nigerian households. Some victims have nursed it in silence, while others literally suffered from it in broad daylight.
Over the years, a vast number of Nigerian men have lived with the belief that they need to inflict some sort of discipline or trauma on their spouse to prevent her from being proud and arrogant. This appalling belief has made a good number of ladies victims of perpetual abuse in their marital home.
Surprisingly, this ethnic anomaly has not spared the high and mighty in the Nigerian entertainment industry. Some well-known Nigerian celebrities have been known to suffer a great deal of emotional trauma as a result of this malady, while others have suffered physical scars that might follow them for the rest of their lives.
Some of them are:
1. Mercy Aigbe: This A-list actress’s fantasy marriage to Lanre Gentry, turned sour towards the end of 2017. Her adorably beautiful face found itself on the receiving end of some violent attacks, that eventually made her bleed profusely. She endured the pain to avoid exposing her children to the effects of a broken home, but she loving heart could not take it anymore after the last attack. She is currently separated from her husband.
2. Chika Ike: This adorable actress, who has finalized her divorce process from her former husband, Mr Eberibi, disclosed that she divorced him because he physically assaulted her severally. She also revealed that she lost a pregnancy as a result of the physical assaults.
3. Monalisa Chinda: This veteran actress revealed that her marriage to her first husband, Dejo Richards, crashed as a result of domestic violence. Though she divorced him without revealing the painful details to the public, the award-winning actress gave a hint of the physical abuse she suffered while speaking at the Pearls Foundation’s third annual conference in Abuja few years ago.
4. Ajoke, wife of Foston Utomi (Owner Of Foston Musik record label): Ajoke is another celebrity that suffered life threatening injuries as a result of the physical injuries inflicted on her by the former love of her life. She took to Instagram to share evidence of the domestic abuse and later on declared the marriage over.
5. Georgina Onuoha: This paragon of beauty also suffered domestic violence in her marriage with her former husband, Dr. C. Igwegbe. Though she did not directly state that she suffered domestic violence, she hinted at hit when she re-posted a woman’s confession of being married to a man who molested, beat and humiliated her.
6. Ayo Adesanya: The A-list actress opened up about the domestic violence she suffered in her marriage to Goriola Hassan, while speaking on an interview with MO on Ebony TV.
7. Katherine Obiang: The painful details of her 10-year marriage to former Who Wants To Be A Millionaire host, Frank Edoho, became a viral story over the past few years.
8. Muma Gee: Sadly, this disturbing belief did not spare this veteran singer, despite the affluent nature of her former husband, Prince Eke. Muma Gee filed for divorce few years ago. One of the offences listed against her husband is domestic violence.
9. Tonto Dikeh: Being married to someone related to former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, did not spare Tonto Dikeh from the hands of domestic violence. Her marriage crashed last year on the grounds of infidelity and domestic violence.
10. Tiwa Savage: What started out as a promising marriage that seemed destined to follow the path of Mercy Johnson and Prince Okojie turned out to be a deep can of worms that involved domestic violence and fraud.
Photo Credit: Getty
