(By Wana Udobang) – ‘We are brought up to think suffering this violence is OK’: domestic
abuse in Nigeria
Dr
Perpetua Mbanefo was just getting ready to drive to her new internship in Lagos
when her husband suddenly got upset, seizing her car keys and medical licence. “He
said I am becoming too free. Then I asked him for my things back and he got
very upset, dragged me and threatened to stab me with a broken bottle.”
Her
voice shakes as she talks. The next morning, again as she was preparing for work,
he stopped her from leaving the house. “He said I am not going anywhere, [that]
he owns me. He started calling me names, like ashewo [slut], and said that I am sleeping with people in my workplace.
I didn’t pay attention to that because none of it was true. He has told me that
if he decides to lock me up, nobody is going to come and ask because it is a
family issue.”
When
he threatened her with an electric iron, Mbanefo climbed into the bed where he
couldn’t reach her, but still got a blow to her head that meant she needed to
go to hospital. She told the doctor how she’d got the wound. He shrugged,
treated her and sent her home again.
