“It got too much”

For a person, more especially a woman, to leave her marriage in Nigeria or really any African country…it’s tough.

And I don’t mean just the process of trying to get separated, I mean the societal, religious, cultural pressure. It’s tough and society is always harder and more critical of the woman even if the man was at fault.

So when people say things like “She didn’t know it will be hard when she married?” or “People these days can’t just endure”, it’s very interesting to me because I believe that in a marriage, before a woman gets to the point of saying “Okay, I want to go”…it means she’s really gone through it.

Here are 13 Nollywood celebrities who couldn’t do it anymore and decided to walk out of their marriages. For some reasons were given, for others reasons were not.

So without further ado, let’s explore.

1. Tonto Dikeh

Tonto Dikeh got married to Olakunle Churchill in 2015. While their wedding was the talk of the town, the fallout was worse!

Their catastrophe is well-documented. The accusations flew left and right. From Tonto saying that Olakunle gave her STDs,was a ritualist, partook in internet fraud, is bisexual, was violent to her. Meanwhile Olakunle on the other hand called Tonto a liar and sued her for N500 million. Talk about a very messy end to a 3 year long marriage.

Yikes!

2. Monalisa Chinda

Many people don’t know this but earlier on in her life, veteran Nollywood actress, Monalisa Chinda, entered into one hell of a marriage with now ex-husband, Tony Obieri.

The marriage according to Monalisa was very violent. She had no intention of leaving him. In fact, she didn’t believe in divorce or separation. She wanted to fight. But according to her, when the slapping and the beating became too much, so much so that one day he beat her to the point when the neighbors had to shout “Ah ah, is it everyday?”, that was when she knew it was time to go. Couple that with the fact that this was all happening in front of their daughter, Tamar. Monalisa said she couldn’t continue that way. So the next morning, she took her and Tamar’s things and left to go stay with a friend.

When she realized that she’d forgotten one of Tamar’s essential clothing at Tony’s house, she went back hoping he wouldn’t be there. Unfortunately for her, he was. According to her, he beat her so bad, she almost died. That was the final straw and that was the minute she decided she was going to officially divorce him.

Thankfully, Monalisa and her daughter are now doing well. The actress is now married to husband, Victor Coker.

3. Chika Ike

Earlier on in her life, Nollywood actress, Chika Ike got married to then-husband, Tony Ebieriri. Following her divorce, Chika opened up about some of the troubles she experienced in her marriage, In her 2018 tell-all book “Boss Up”, Chika opened up some more about the domestic violence she experienced in her marriage. I’ll share with you some excerpts from the book. In Chapter 33, Letting Go, she writes:

I took the beatings for five years after my wedding day. Leaving an abuser means admitting that you’ve been co-dependent. You’re not running away, but letting go of a person who doesn’t love you after all. You’re letting go of a fantasy, to step back into your real life where happiness is possible.

One time while I was still married, probably in the first year, I took my little dog and left to spend the night in a hotel. But I went back the next day. I was scared to turn away from the perfect image I’d been trying to create. Leaving meant admitting: This man is never going to change. He doesn’t even like me.

She officially left him in 2013. They were married for 7 years.

4. Uche Ogbodo

Uche Ogbodo was heavily pregnant when her 10 month old marriage to then husband, Apo Arthur, started going down in flames. According to Uche, the marriage didn’t last due to deceit on the part of her husband. The marriage produced one child.

5. Stephanie Linus

Many people don’t know this now because Stephanie is popular for going from Stephanie Okereke to Stephanie Linus, but before she became a Linus, Stephanie was in another marriage with former Super Eagles’ player, Chikelue Iloenyosi.

8 years later, the marriage ended because Iloenyosi was allegedly still legally married to another woman in the United States when he got married to Stephanie.

Stephanie later went on to find love again and in 2012, she got married to her current husband, Linus Idahosa and in this union, they’ve been blessed with 1 son.

6. Regina Askia

Nollywood actress, Regina Askia in 1999 was married to Nigerian millionaire, Charles Orie. However that marriage didn’t last up to a year because rumor has it that Charles was looking for more of a trophy wife than an actual wife, and he had no plans to be faithful.

Regina is now married to her current husband Rudy Williams and has created a family with him.

7. Shan George

Shan George is not new to the marriage game AT ALL. The actress has been married 4 times. She got married to him when she was only 16 but he later dumped her even after she’d given him 2 children. She later got married three more times.

According to her, all her marriages crashed because all the men in her life one point or another dumped her.

8. Juliet Ibrahim

Juliet Ibrahim in 2010 was married to Ghanian businessman Kwadwo Safo but that marriage came crashing down and by 2014, they were officially separated. Juliet attributes the split to her ex-husband’s infidelity and meddling in her career.

9. Yvonne Jegede

Nollywood actress, Yvonne Jegede, shocked fans when revealed that that her one year marriage to Olakunle ‘Abounce’ Fawole crashed. The actress revealed in an interview with Pulse that she left her marriage three months after she got pregnant with her son.

She said:

We started having issues before the birth of Xavier. I think I was about two to three months pregnant when the issues came. Immediately the ‘issues’ came, there was never a dull moment, it just kept going up and up and it got worse and it got worse and today here we are.

10. Jackie Appiah

In 2005, actress Jackie Appiah got married to her now ex-husband Peter Agyemang, but the couple divorced after three years of marriage. The couple had one son together. Following their marriage, the media released a whole lot of stories that described Peter as a dangerous man, but he and Jackie denied all those rumors. The reason for their split is still unknown.

11. Ngozi Ezeonu

Little is known about Ngozi Ezeonu’s ex-husband, Edwin Ezeonu. The actress reportedly walked out of her husband in 2013 with the divorce becoming finalized in 2015. Till date, Ngozi has not talked about her marriage or divorce.

In fact, many people came to know of Ngozi Ezeonu’s divorce when in early 2020, her daughter got married and Edwin came out to complain bitterly about how Ngozi married their daughter off and didn’t even invite him.

Again, Ngozi never commented on it.

12. Ayo Adesanya

In 2009, Nollywood actress ended her 8 year marriage to then husband, Goriola Hassan. In fact, according to Ayo, she packed her bags in the middle of the night and ran out of her marriage. She says that she can never see the both of them reconciling because they’re simply not compatible.

13. Tiwa Savage

Tiwa Savage’s wedding to TeeBillz was a spectacle admired by so many, but the marriage itself has been rocky. While no reports of the two officially being divorced has come out, their marriage can be classified as dead officially.

I mean, on April 28, 2016, TeeBillz accused Tiwa of infidelity, and her mother of witchcraft. In response, Tiwa did a 45 minute interview where she addressed everything from her husband’s infidelity claims to his financial recklessness, drug addiction, and abandonment.

In that interview, she said there was no way she could see herself taking him back and the 2 have not gotten back since then.