Nigerian actress, Chika Ike, has opened up on why she divorced her husband, Tony Eberiri, saying the marriage was a very emotional and traumatic one.
“This one topic I’ve tried so hard to avoid and I’ve been waiting for the right time but I have come to resolve that there is really no right time because every second of the day, lives are being lost due to domestic violence,” she said.

“The past three years has been a very emotional period for me. I focused my energy on work and to build back my self esteem. I was a victim of domestic violence in my marriage and that was the singular reason I left my marriage, besides other reasons.

“As a girl, I was always known as the sweetest kid on the block. Before I got married, I have been through some relationships and for once no man had ever laid a finger on me. The first time it happened in my marriage I didn’t understand it because I am not the type of woman a man beats but I guess there are no types. It just happens and no woman deserves it. 
“I thought it was love or his way of expressing his emotions. After every beating he pleads, cries and says it won’t happen again. Once again I thought it was love and made excuses for him.  Over the years when it kept happening consistently I started looking for other definitions for it. I started loosing my self pride, self esteem, self worth, and most painfully I lost a pregnancy that almost took my life in the process; then I realised how serious and abnormal it really was.

“I have heard and read a lot of accusations from ignorant people who don’t know my story; I guess that’s why they are ignorant. I was 20 years old and very naïve to the world when I got married. They said I married for money. LOL. I was married to a corporate guy who had a 9-5 job in a bank, lives in a rented 2 bedroom apartment at Egbe.  So do the maths! I married for love.

“Just like any other girl, I did a traditional wedding, a white wedding and a court wedding. So that’s how much I wanted to be married forever.  For five years I hoped, prayed and wished that one day it will all change. But the last straw that broke the camels back was during a heated argument he threw a glass jug to my face and I dodged it and it shattered on d wall. I saw death flash before me and I made a decision to save my life. I left my marriage.

“I’m not saying  this to draw pity from anyone because we are entitled to our opinions and beliefs. I am not also saying this to discourage people from falling in love because it’s a beautiful feeling and I still believe in it. I am saying this to educate, share and talk about my experience as a victim of domestic violence because it is real.”

Chika Ike and Tony Erebiri got married in 2006, and on Friday, July 26, an Abuja High court granted them divorce.