A married mother has sparked conversation online after declaring that she does not want her daughters to get married, citing the alarming rate of femicide and domestic abuse in Nigeria.
Chief Omekannaya Oyinna Ogbonna made the statement in a Facebook post following reports of the death of a 24-year-old woman who left behind her 1-year-old twins.
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While the exact circumstances surrounding the young woman's death remain unclear, her sister shared a post suggesting she may never forgive the man she blamed for “making her lose her sister.”
Reacting to the incident, Ogbonna lamented what she described as the systematic destruction of women in marriage.
“Women cannot even live to a ripe old age in peace because too many men are destroying them physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally! These men are ENERGY VAMPIRES, draining the very life out of women who entered marriage hoping to build loving families!” she wrote.
She added that women who speak out against abusive behaviour are often labelled bitter, wicked, and anti-marriage.
“Yet, when we speak about their behavior, expose their misogyny, and challenge the pathology behind their treatment of women, we are labeled bitter, wicked, and anti-marriage! As though exposing destructive behavior is somehow worse than the behavior itself!”
Ogbonna further argued that society continues to romanticize marriage while minimizing the suffering of women trapped in abusive unions.
“Giving men the benefit of the doubt, ignoring red flags, and rushing into marriage have sent far too many women to early graves. And society continues to romanticize marriage while minimizing the suffering of the women trapped in it!” she said.
In a passionate declaration, she vowed to protect her daughters from a similar fate.
“I DO NOT WANT MARRIAGE FOR MY DAUGHTERS! I went through too much to bring them into this world, and I will be DAMNED if any man born of a woman thinks he can lay a finger on my beloved daughters, whom I love with every fiber of my existence!”
“I did not fight to give my daughters life just for some man to make their lives miserable or cut them short in the name of marriage! NEVER!!!!”