Mustafa Aderonke, a 34-year-old woman from Epe, Lagos State, has opened up about the painful experience of being forcefully married off at the age of 19 by her mother.
In an interview with Talk To B , Aderonke recounted the events of that morning when her life changed forever.
She said her aunt came to call her and asked her to follow her to the junction, not knowing that plans had already been made for her marriage.
“That morning, I only tied a wrapper around my body. I just noticed a car passed by. I didn’t know they had plans; I thought it was just a normal car passing. But I noticed their countenance. When the car came back, someone just came out and ran to hug me. Then my mom told me, ‘That’s your husband, you are going to your husband’s house.’”
She explained how she resisted but was forced into it.
“After she said that and the man wanted to carry me, I told him I would walk. It was my mother who pushed me into the marriage. There was no car, no motorcycle, no road — the entire village was surrounded by water.”
Aderonke tried to escape but couldn’t.
“They had warned the paddlers in the village not to carry anyone they didn’t know. I wasn’t given any money, I only had the wrapper on me. I didn’t take my phone or anything. Without money, there was nothing I could do.”
Her unhappiness continued in the marriage. “Whenever the husband they married me to came to the village and wanted to have sex with me, we always fought because I was not happy.”
“Sometimes I would run into the bush, even at night, and stay there till morning. Other times, if he had locked the door from outside, I would be left with no choice than to allow him have his way.
“The annoying part is that he is not only elderly, he is married with children.”
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