That there is a frightening spectre of violence across homes in Bonny Local Government Area is no longer news. What is news, however, is that this spate of violence that hits deep into the psyche of the victims and at the very foundation of the affected homes is being perpetuated by persons of influence in the society, alongside economic uncertainty, social stigma, and parochial narratives. These persons of influence range from community leaders to religious leaders to family elders and lots more.

Across Bonny LGA from villages to the mainland, from the built-up areas to the shanties, no area is spared these ugly incidents of wife battery, spousal abuse, and in many cases, invidious and bellicose attempts at the lives of the victims. As the trend grows, so does the population of hushed voices escalate thus creating a sustained trend mainly because the supposed interveners advance a narrative of the absurd, appealing to the victims to rather save their marriages than expose their assailants.

Checks by Kristina Reports reveal a disheartening situation where women are subjected to victim shaming, subjugation, profiling and labeling. In a particular instance involving a community representative in one of the companies, upon discovering that his wife had chanced upon the fact of his positive HIV status and would not engage in sexual intercourse with him without protection, subjected her to sustained incidents of assault, battery and abuse.

According to eye witnesses, during fits of anger, he would hit her head on the floor several times and when he was done, would abandon her in that helpless condition and go lodge in a hotel with women of easy virtue for days before returning home.

In one of the fishing settlements close to Finima, a woman’s teeth were knocked off by her husband because she objected to him having amorous affairs with women who patronize his fishing business. In another instance, a five months pregnant staff of one of the multinationals was kicked in the stomach severally by her husband and left to die while he absconded with his girlfriend to a resort in another part of the town. In yet another case, a man had to force his wife to have sex with his friends, claiming it was his home culture, and when the wife objected that it was an abomination in her place, she was mercilessly dealt with by her husband for ‘disobeying him’.

Checks at both the Bonny and Finima police stations reveal an overwhelming volume of cases of domestic violence being handled by the police in Bonny LGA. In many of these case, community leaders, religious leaders and other persons of influence show up asking the police to let them handle the cases and when obliged some of them allegedly engage the victims in a game of intimidation and silencing.

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In one instance, Kristina Reports was informed that a pastor allegedly asked the woman to consider what the society would think of her husband should he go to jail just because of ‘a mere misunderstanding between husband and wife’. The lady in question was beaten to a pulp and locked up for days inside the house so that neighbours would not see the grievous injuries inflicted on her. When eventually, the matter became public knowledge, the man ran to his pastor who reportedly came and begged the woman not to report to the authorities.

According to the supposed pastor, her marriage and wellbeing of her children should be more important to her than any police case. According to knowledgeable sources, he further implored her to also consider that her husband was a senior and well respected pastor in their church and exposing him would tarnish his image and undermine ‘his spiritual influence in the house of Lord’.

The lady eventually was cowed into submission until the next incident happened that almost claimed her life. But for the intervention of some good Samaritans, she would have been six feet below by now. It was at the hospital that she opened up to her friend as to what she had been going through.

A case involving a staff of one of the government agencies, Kristina Reports learnt that the man allegedly sold off a parcel of land jointly purchased by him and his wife without his wife’s knowledge and used the proceeds to buy a car with which he used to ferry his amorous acquaintances to the staff quarters of his organization close to the Federal Polytechnic of Oil and Gas where he engages in sexual romps with them. When the wife got wind of the sale of the land and protested he severely dealt with her. Eye witnesses say he used a cutlass to flog her but for the police that intervened to dispossess him of the knife and take it into custody. He eventually was able to wriggle himself out of the situation.

In yet another instance, a lady working with one of the companies servicing the Nigeria LNG was said to have been almost killed by her husband who felt intimidated that she was earning almost five times higher than his salary. In her magnanimity, she was said to have been giving him a certain amount from her salary every month as pocket money only to discover that he was using it to perpetuate his affairs with other women. She also discovered that he was also sleeping with their maid. When she confronted him with her findings he gave her the beating of her life.

Upon recovering from the injuries she sustained from that incident, she decided to stop the monthly largesse and that was the genesis of her ordeal. He would fly into a rage at the slightest instance. On a particular day, sources say he demanded for money from her and when she refused he deployed every object within his reach on her. She managed to escape from him and ran into the children’s room only for him to come there and continue the beating right in front of the kids. Without minding that she was in her second trimester, he hit her severally on the stomach and left the house. Upon discovering what has happened, some good Samaritans rushed her to a private clinic where it was diagnosed that an aspect of her womb had ruptured.

As in previous instances, a pastor friend of the abusive husband intervened asking her to ‘forgive her husband and empty her heart of the anger against him’. He allegedly persuaded her to save her marriage and not join ‘enemies of her marriage to destroy her husband’. He further asked her what she would gain by exposing her husband or reporting him to the police.

Another case involved a young man working with one of the companies fixing the Water-Well Road, popularly called Willbros Road who would go to the school where his ‘Baby Mama’ was working to create scenes until she was sacked by the management as a way of putting a stop to those ugly incidents. His anger was that she decided to end their torturous affair.

Kristina Reports learnt that he raped and impregnated her at age 13, thus ending her academic progress and eventually succeeded in having two more kids from her but would not take responsibility for their upkeep. He would batter her on end anywhere he meets her. In a particular instance it was at an ATM stand. When she felt she had had enough and decided to call it quits, he started harassing her and her family, threatening that he was a cultist. Eventually, the authorities stepped in to call him to order only for him to start pleading that it was the work of the devil and expressing how much he loved her but she was rebuffing his affectionate overtures.

There was another case too where the husband of the lady, who was said to own a very popular clothing shop in town, threatened to use her for rituals at his cult meeting should she ever reveal to anyone what was happening between them at home. When she was able to muster the courage to report him to his mother, other members of the family prevailed on her keep quiet over the matter asking her if he was the first or only man to abuse his wife. On a fateful day she absconded from the house and ran back to her parents in one of the South-Eastern States.

In most cases, the individuals who purportedly claim to intervene in these cases focus more on sustaining the institution of marriage than addressing the aggravating factors causing tension among the couples and ravaging the very foundation of the marriages. They hardly ever focus on the mental state of the abusive husbands, the financial issues involved or the interest and wellbeing of the victims. They play to parochial interests such as the reputation of the abusers, the name of their church, family or community, the perception of the public and all sorts of inane considerations.

Hardly are the crimes against the Nigerian state being perpetrated by these villains masquerading as husbands addressed. Crimes such as assault, battery, molestation, domestic and/or gender-based violence, wilful endangerment, child abuse, indecent exposure, psychological torture, rape, attempted murder, and sundry others that are at the heart of these incidents are not addressed. Ditto with the need for the abusive spouses to undergo psychiatric evaluation, therapeutic help and counseling, and/or time with the law enforcement agencies to account for their actions.

In some cases, these so-called leaders victim shame the affected women, making them feel their efforts at exposing their monster spouses ‘was against the will of God’. A case in point, a woman was told by her pastor that her family members, who were insisting on making her husband account for his sustained abuse of her, had their families intact but were hell-bent on destroying hers. He asked her how many of them had reported their husbands to the police, pointing out that though her husband was wrong it was only ‘a mistake’ and that with love and affection from her he would eventually overcome his challenges. Curiously, this woman was bleeding from her head while the so-called pastor was dishing out his homily.

Apparently, the relevant authorities need to focus more on those supposedly deploying their influence to purportedly intervene in cases of domestic and gender-based violence and spousal abuse. These are the purveyors of the ‘warped gospel’. They are the ones that convince the victims to hush their voices and not speak out when they are abused. They are the ones that persuade the victims to prioritize the name of their family, church and community over their safety and security. They are the ones that perpetuate the social stigma and demonization of those who speak out. They are the ones who engage in mental profiling of the victims, processing their thoughts into viewing any act of bringing their abusers to book as demonic and an anathema.

There should be proper monitoring of the process whenever the law enforcement agencies choose to oblige a person of influence in the society to intervene in cases of domestic violence and spousal abuse. Where possible the settlement and counseling sessions should be digitally captured by audio or video recording devices in the presence of a gender expert within the police or whichever security or law enforcement agency handling the particular case. The outcomes should be weighed against mutually agreed expectations.

It is also important for the security agencies to check out what happens in most of the shanties around Bonny. When Kristina Reports got wind of a case somewhere in the Ghana woman area of Akiama where five men were said be taking turns to sexually abuse a young girl in her early twenties and went checking, we were told the occupants of the house had gone for their businesses. But upon checking back later, the house was deserted and we were told no one lives there. When we caught up with the girl in question, she admitted to the abuse but would say nothing further, informing us that she was leaving for her hometown.

Further interrogation, revealed that she came to Bonny in search of a job and her former coursemate, who promised to help her turned out to be a monster forcing her to have sex with his roommates or risk being thrown out of the house. Not knowing anyone around and with nowhere to go, she played along for her survival and safety only for the trend to continue unabated until they heard that some journalists came looking for them. That night they all disappeared into thin air. She said she was able to save up some money with which she now wanted to use to pay her way back to her family.

It is also imperative that the proposed profiling of residents of the LGA, which received wide acclaim from stakeholders be done now. Not just the transporters but every resident across the town needs to be properly profiled. This exercise no doubt would expose the spectre of girls both minors and adults who are being held hostage and abused by men in different parts of the town and sundry other inanities. Also, helplines should be provided for victims to place anonymous calls for help in the event of abuse and mistreatment.

The Rivers State Ministry of Women Affairs, the Bonny Local Government, the Office of the Bonny Kingdom Woman Leader, the International Federation of Women Lawyers, the Legal Aid Council, the Gender Desk of the various security agencies, civil society organizations (CSOs), religious bodies, and other relevant stakeholders need to fashion out a common template for providing strategic and sustainable help to victims of domestic and gender-based violence, spousal abuse, teenage molestation, and sexual predators.

Most times, the factors that perpetuate this culture of abuse is the economic consideration of the abuse victims, lack of psycho-social support, absence of security, social stigma, public opinion, and religious profiling. There has to be provisions for these in whatever integrated response plan that has to be formulated and the time is now if the number of hushed voices have to be reduced, the casualty figures checkmated and the wellbeing of the children involved in those situations catered for.