Olajumoke Orisaguna, popularly known as Olajumoke Onibread, has opened up about her harrowing experience with domestic abuse during her marriage to ex-husband, Sunday Orisaguna.
Olajumoke rose to fame in 2016 after accidentally walking into a photo shoot with British rapper TinieTempah, captured by singer and renowned photographer, TY Bello.
However, she disappeared from the public eye, leaving many wondering about her whereabouts.
Speaking in a recent interview with City FM, the former bread seller turned model, revealed that she endured years of physical and emotional abuse that ultimately derailed her career.
The 35-year-old mother of two shared how her marriage struggles began during their time in Osun State.
She said they lived in Ire, Osun state before she relocated to Lagos. She described the environment at their Ire home as “hostile”, citing her mother-in-law’s “mistreatment” and Sunday’s “physical abuse”.
She said after relocating to Lagos, she started hawking bread before crossing paths with TY Bello. She said Sunday, however, joined her in Lagos, and the alleged abuse continued.
Olajumoke said she felt ashamed to deny claims of marriage due to their two children. She added that her career suffered after their separation, alleging that Sunday maligned her reputation and that of her supporters.
In her words:
“The time we were in Ire, we stayed in my husband’s family house and there is no way you stay in that kind of place that you would not encounter problems.
My mother-in-law was very hostile towards me and I would have to close my hairdressing shop on time just so I could go make dinner at home. And it was whatever she told her son is what he listens to.
He would not even listen to my own side of the story before he started beating me up. Whenever me and his mother had misunderstandings, he would not even listen to me before hitting me.
He would beat me to the extent that my face and body would be swollen. Sometimes he would even make use of a belt. That was when we were in Ire, Osun state.”
Despite her suffering, Olajumoke chose to hide the abuse from her family, including her mother, who lived nearby.
The situation worsened in January 2016 when an altercation with her ex-husband’s elder sister led to another violent episode.
This became the breaking point for Olajumoke, who decided to leave the marriage. She shared further:
“I would hide what was happening because I did not want my mom to hear. She also lived within the same vicinity as us.
Before when I go and report to her, she’ll say she did not give me out in marriage to anyone. Even my mum’s younger sister was against me marrying him, as she had lived longer in Ire than me, so she knew what she was saying. But when the pregnancy issue happened, there was nothing anyone could do.
So my mum will tell me she did not bless any marriage and she cannot also ask me to leave there, so she did not involve herself in the issue. When he beat me, I would not be able to wear short-sleeved clothes, but long-sleeved dresses.
I did not tell anyone, only those who lived with us in the house knew about it. Fast forward to January 2016 when I wanted to move to Lagos, we were frying akara for his dad’s remembrance when I had an issue with his elder sister.
As usual, he beat me up and I decided that I was going to leave, move to Lagos, and start working at the bakery because I had been there before. The third day after that incident, I packed my load and brought my two children with me to Lagos because I could not leave them there.
Getting to the bakery, I had to explain to my friend what happened and she was happy that I had finally left because she was part of the people that warned me about him.
What I am saying now, I have never said it out before. Even when I met TY Bello and I told her that I had a husband, my friend was furious when she found out. She was like I do not have sense, why would I say someone who beats me is my husband?
I had to explain that I had to say that because I have children. That was how he came to Lagos. Even in the house that was rented for me in Surulere, he would still beat me up.
I did not even tell TY Bello what was going on. I could not even admit that we were not married. I am a very gentle person so I did not tell anyone what was going on, I was enduring all of it.
Sometimes when he goes out to drink, because he is someone who likes to have a good time, when he gets back and a minor misunderstanding happens, he would start beating me again. It is almost four years since we separated.
While he was beating me, he did not have a job. I was the one who would go out to hustle for us because I did not want my children to suffer. He would just stay at home and sleep or go out to drink.
I did not even disturb him from doing these things, I just wanted him to stop beating me. Then he also started monitoring me when I went to work. If I go for photoshoots, sometimes I come back very late.
He would accuse me of sleeping around with other men. So I decided to finally leave him. It got so bad that he would even start insulting my parents.”
However, Olajumoke disclosed that her life and career spiraled downward after the separation, alleging that her ex-husband launched a campaign to tarnish her reputation. She added:
“It was when I separated from him, that was when everything started going down the drain because he started spoiling my name.
All those who had helped me then, he started saying bad things against them. Since then, things started going down.”
Olajumoke has returned to the spotlight as a radio presenter with her talk show ‘Kilon Shele’.
She disclosed that her radio show will focus on her personal story, including her experiences with exploitative managers who took advantage of her lack of education.
