Nollywood actress Basira Beere has shared details about her past marriage, saying she experienced domestic violence that affected her health and personal life.
PrimeTimes Nigeria reports that in a recent interview on the Talk To B podcast, she said she went ahead with the marriage despite advice from friends who felt her partner was not on the same social level as her. She added that she believed in building a life with him and even took on a large part of the wedding expenses, covering most of the cost.
According to her, the relationship changed shortly after the wedding when small issues began to lead to serious conflict. She said one of the early problems started after a man sent her a congratulatory message and she responded in a friendly way, which led to tension in the home.
She also said the situation in the marriage became physically abusive, with repeated assaults that at some point drew the attention of their landlord. Basira explained that she often tried to manage the situation but kept receiving advice from her parents to remain patient and stay in the marriage.
The actress further shared that disagreements sometimes started from minor issues, including arguments over music choices. She said one of such incidents led to her phone being destroyed and she was assaulted afterward. She added that she began experiencing medical complications after the incident and later suffered a pregnancy loss.
Basira revealed that she lost several pregnancies during the period she was in the marriage and said the repeated experiences made her fear for her safety. She added that the final incident made her decide to leave the relationship completely.
She also said there was a point where she began thinking about self-defense if the situation continued, as she felt the marriage was becoming dangerous for both sides. According to her, she eventually walked away because she believed staying longer could lead to a worse outcome.
Basira added that she is thankful she left the marriage when she did, noting that there were no children from the relationship.
She said: “When I wanted to get married to him, my friends complained that I was marrying someone of a lower calibre than me. I was like, he was not, that I just received the grace of God, and I also came from nothing. When we wanted to do our wedding, I paid for about 70% of the ceremony. I thought I was supporting my man.
“His problem started about 2-3 days after the wedding. Days after the wedding, a guy texted me to congratulate me on the wedding, and I called him dear, and that was when the problem started. It was so tough, he beat me so much that even our landlord tried to intervene.
“My parents hated it when you complained about your marriage to them. If I explain to them what happened, they would say that I should be patient and endure. Only my siblings who stayed with me at the time could attest to what I went through. If I made a mistake sometimes, he would not think about it twice before beating me, before he realised what he had done.
“At a point, I was like, if this continues, we will kill ourselves someday. I lost about three or four pregnancies due to his beating me. We have fought because of a Pasuma track before, because he likes listening to him. I was listening to an Osupa mixtape, and he asked me to change it to Pasuma. I was like this song would soon be over, and I would change it.
“He angrily broke my phone, and when I challenged him, he beat daylight out of me. Within three hours, my tummy started aching, and then I saw blood; it was then that I concluded that I could no longer stay. If I say I am no longer interested in a relationship, you would notice through my attitude.
“I would not complain about anything you do anymore, I would just ignore. I was even tired of complaining to my parents because they kept saying I should endure without doing anything about it. He would belittle me, talk down on my career and at a point, I left there because I was scared for my life.
“We did not have any children together, and I thank God that I left because if I had waited a bit longer, something else would have happened. Because I was ready to hit him back if he tried it again, and that is why couples with domestic violence issues end up killing themselves. The last fight we had, I was covered in blood; in fact, Gistlover posted about it. I do not know who leaked it to them.”