A photojournalist accused of beating his wife to a pulp said on Tuesday battery was the only language the woman understands.
Francis Abiagan, an employee of Business Day Newspaper, said his wife of 10 years, Joy, had made life difficult for him since he brought his sick mother to their Ifo, Ogun State, residence.
A group, Campaign Against Impunity and Domestic Violence had accused Abiagan of beating and stripping naked his wife.
In a statement signed by the group’s spokesman, Gbenga Soloki, the photojournalist was accused of inflicting injuries on the woman, boasting that nothing could happen to him.
According to Soloki, Abiagan had been assaulting his wife for a long time, with the couple’s family intervening to broker peace whenever they quarreled.
Abiagan, who admitted on telephone that he beat up his wife, said he could not endure the way the woman treated his mother.
He said:
“I have been married for 10 years now. My mother had stroke and no one was available to take care of her. I brought my mother to the house and since then, it has been war. My wife hates my mother with passion. My sin is that I accommodated all her siblings and they have turned my life into a nightmare.
“My wife has been devising means to deal with my mother. She starved my mother to the extent that I hired a help, who cooks for her. My wife was seen dragging my mother on the ground, calling her a witch. I have been enduring it but I could not bear this last one she did to my mother.
“My wife threatened the cook I hired not to come. The church has organised several meetings for us. They begged her to change but she refused. It is the language she understands I gave to her.”
