DOMESTIC ABUSE AS CORE OF DISOWNED BOOK READING-

The cozy atmosphere inside the little library at Terra Kulture was charged as the conversations began around the issues raised in the collection of five short stories titled, Disowned. Set as a book reading, the event was a small gathering of big giants in Nollywood which had as host, seasoned actor, Richard Mofe-Damijo. Written by an actress, Nina Iphechukwude Anyianuka,Disowned was conceived in an unexpected circumstance. The author was waiting for her flight at a Lagos airport, which had been delayed for two hours. To kill time, she decided to write a story.Afriend, Papa, stumbled upon the story and encouraged her to write more.

She later met with a non-governmental organisation in the course of developing plots for the story and discovered real-life shocking episodes of girls who have been sexually-abused at tender ages by their relatives, domestic staff or la- enforcement agents.

Mofe-Damijo, who also had suffered abuse as a child, decided to make the book a public knowledge. Damijo expressed his concern on the rising trend of sexual abuse of young children.

“These are very frightening times," he said. "It’s very disturbing. I was talking to a gynaecologist who is called in to repair the damage. Children as little as two and three months are getting abused."

The book addresses issues such as prostitution, childlessness, widowhood, sexual abuse and child molestation. Excerpts from the book were read by Tope Oshin, BolaAtta, BiolaAlabi, Chiamaka Uwadoka, Michelle Dede andAdesuwa Onyenokwe. Tope Oshin, a movie director, described the stories in the book as “dark’’ and promises to use a video production to tell similar dark stories, defying popular cinema thirst for comedy.

BolaAtta, a frequent traveller, had thought reading to be a luxury until she got a copy of Disowned. She found the stories "extremely powerful". The room went silent as movie director, BiolaAlabi read the moving story of a grandmother, who discovers that her grandchild has been molested and impregnated by her father.

The founder of the NGO that gave Nina the raw materials for her creative fiction, Mercy Makinde, recounts her personal story that led to the establishment of “Touch Me Not Campaign".

“My father gave me away at 18 to a man older than hiself," she recalled. "I couldn’t have friends. Sex was always forced. I was married for 11 years. I started the NGO because I didn’t want anyone to go through what I went through. It was a life of misery. I couldn’t visit relatives or shop on my own. He was a pilot and earned salaries in dollars."

Later, she ran away from the unhappy marriage. She remarried and as a therapy of sorts, she started the NGO to spread awareness on the dangers of domestic abuse.

“There are lots of sick people everywhere," she continued. "When we started last year on March 8, I cried the life out of me. It’s been an eye-opener. I didn’t know what I was going into. We are now in 16 states and we have growing number of volunteers. It’s hard for me to call this book a work of fiction because it is true. I have seen girls that their fathers are sleeping with them and their mothers keep mum about it. I have left my business and I am more involved in this advocacy."

One of the abused girls that she encountered when she started a television series titled, Break the Silence was invited to share the true story of how she grew up in a dysfunctional household where she was abused by her father, step mother’s sister, teachers and how her father shut the mouths of the elders in the family with good money.

The impunity and culture of silence that accompanies sexual abuse were highlighted during the panellists’ session that succeeded the reading sessions.Anchored by Joke Silva, the panellists agreed that parents should set useful priorities, teach their children defences against abusers and contact NGOs that can help in case of abuse.

The publisher, BookKraftAfrica, Bankole Olayebi in his remarks described the book as an “incredibly passionate story".