“I am a victim of domestic violence” – Actress Chika Ike opens up on her abuse from her husband

Actress Chike Ike pens an open letter to her
fans, opening up about the physical abuse she
suffered in the hands of the man she called her
husband for five years. Find her story below…
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. its been really
hard for me to come out straight and talk about
this because sometimes I pinch myself to wake
up and not believe that I was a victim of
domestic violence. I’ve been through a lot in my
life, faced a lot of challenges but this is one
topic I’ve tried so hard to avoid and have been
waiting for the right time but I have come to a
resolve that there’s really no right time
because every second of the day,lives are being
lost due to domestic violence. I was a victiim of
domestic violence in my marriage and that was
the singular reason I left my marriage, aside
other reasons.
Growing up 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. As a young girl 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
(Miscarriage) I almost lost 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 20yrs
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. 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 & wished that one
day it will all change. But the last straw that
broke the carmels back was during a heated
argument he threw a glass jug to my face and I
dogged 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.
Am not saying this to draw pity from anyone
because we are entitled to our opinions and
believes. I am not also saying this to discourage
people from falling in love because its 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.