Domestic violence: Actress Monalisa Chinda explains why she divorced first husband [Video]

Nollywood star Monalisa Chinda Coker, in an interview with TopNaija, opened up on alleged domestic violence from her ex-husband, Dejo Richards.

According to the actress, she had to leave following physical violence against her from her ex-husband.

On how she tried to keep it together before finally deciding to move out of her marriage, she says: “I wasn’t in a hurry to leave the marriage, I gave it five years… Maybe if the marriage wasn’t violent, I would have stayed from day one from pushing off the head to slap to every slightest provocation….”

Maintaining that the marriage breakdown was a direct result of continuous beating and her worry for the safety of her child, Tamara, Chinda says: “When I had Tamar, I thought that would calm situations. But it didn’t. I knew this was not going to stop. So Tamar clocked one, the violence didn’t stop… So I said if I don’t go, this man is going to kill me and this girl. So I had to turn to God… I don’t believe in the separation of any sort. I don’t believe in divorce. Why did I talk to God directly? Because I told talked [sic] to my church then, they didn’t do anything about it.

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“I had a pastor. He didn’t do anything about it, not even calling him to order… And nothing changed. I turned to Holy Spirit now I said I’m going to leave. And I’m ready to face any consequences be it the media…

“One day, something happened… He came back and asked for something, it wasn’t available and next I heard was a bang on my head, slaps… My daughter was crying. Neighbours were screaming ‘you will kill her o! You will kill her o! Every day we no go hear something for this compound!’… That night… the friend came over and stopped it… The morning after, I’d packed my things and took Tamar to go to my very good friend’s place… a colleague of mine who opened her home to me and my daughter… I had to go back again to get Tamar’s, few of Tamar’s things cuz I didn’t have any money…. and then he blocked me and immediately I went into tongue-speaking in my heart saying this man should not kill me today. And after that beating that day I almost died. I decided to never to come back there again.”

Born on 13 September 1974, Monalisa and Dejo Richards’ divorced in 2009 after five years of marriage following allegations of domestic violence. The couple has one child, Tamara Chinda Richards born on 13 February 2008.

On 20th February 2016, Monalisa got married to her current husband, Victor Tonye Cole, in a traditional wedding ceremony in the Nigerian city of Rumuodani (Port Harcourt).

Catch the interview: