I Have Reported My Abuser To the Police - Cossy Orjiakor

“I have gone to the police station and from there, I went to the hospital to get my injuries treated. However, his wife and daughter, who also sustained injuries, haven’t been to the police station and the hospital. I reported a case of assault at the police station and some officers followed me to his house to arrest him but he hid. He will surely be brought to book.

“He has been doing it for a while. I decided to speak out this time because I was personally involved. I don’t care if their marriage breaks because I went public with the information. As a concerned neighbour, I can even provide the wife accommodation. This is no longer a case of domestic violence because he also assaulted me. I have been feeling pain all over my body, even the butt that I recently spent money on.”

“When they got married, they had nothing. The woman actually bought a property in her name and they now use it together. They actually worked together to get all the property they own now and I am not sure that he would release any to her. If she leaves him now, she will have to start her life from scratch and I think that is why she has been afraid to quit the marriage after giving 12 years of her life to him.

“In the Nigerian situation, it is the woman that usually suffers. I grew up in an abusive home because my father used to assault my mum; so, I know what it feels like. But he never touched us, the children. That’s why I was enraged when this man hit his daughter. I know so much about them because I was a bridesmaid at their wedding. He only had a weather-beaten Benz in those days and the vehicle even refused to start on the day of their wedding. We are good neighbours and the man is actually nice but for his terrible habit of battering his wife.”