Gratia Women Empowerment Foundation

28/09/2026

I met Tunde through mutual friends shortly after Valentine’s Day in 2014. At the time, I was working as an operations Manager at the airport in Lagos, raising my son from a previous relationship, while he worked as a telecoms manager in Abuja.
Just a few months after our first date, I ignored the concerns of my family and friends and married the man I believed was my prince charming. As we drove to our hotel after the wedding, I remember telling him it was one of the happiest days of my life.
I had no idea how quickly that happiness would disappear.
After the wedding, Tunde moved in with me in Lekki. He told me he wanted to help give my son a better childhood than the one he had growing up. At first, that sounded loving and caring. But there were things that unsettled me almost immediately.
He constantly corrected me.
From the way I dressed, to how I spoke, wore my makeup, carried myself, or interacted with people, nothing I did was ever right in his eyes.

I met Tunde through mutual friends shortly after Valentine’s Day in 2014. At the time, I was working as an operations Manager at the airport in Lagos, raising

07/09/2026

How do I tell my story?
Where do I even begin?
How do you tell people that the man who stands at the pulpit every Sunday—celebrated as a pastor and marriage counsellor—is abusive behind closed doors? Who would believe me when I was praised publicly as the “ideal pastor’s wife,” admired, envied, and held up as an example to other women in the church?

For a long time, I didn’t even know how it started. I only recognized the pattern.

A slap for asking what he called a “stupid question.”

Being constantly told I brought nothing to the table.

Being reduced, diminished, gradually erased.

I endured abuse, physical, emotional, and sexual for eleven years.

How It Began

I met Moses at a church event shortly after I moved to the area. I had just started attending the church near my friend’s house, where I was staying at the time. He introduced himself as the junior pastor. We exchanged numbers and spoke briefly that day.

Soon, he began calling every evening.

How do I tell my story? Where do I even begin? How do you tell people that the man who stands at the pulpit every Sunday—celebrated as a pastor and marriage

30/08/2026

No one truly understands the depth of pain that comes with betrayal until they experience it themselves. As I sit here and reflect on everything I endured, I’m still stunned—not just by heartbreak, but by how expertly deception can be masked as love.

I was married for more than eight years to the man I believed was the love of my life. I prayed, fasted, cried, and underwent multiple rounds of IVF in hopes of having a child. Nothing worked. I married young at 23 and a virgin. What could have gone wrong?

At 22 years, I was already managing my father’s logistics company. I was raised to value hard work, integrity, and caution. Because I managed the company’s finances, I was always very careful about the men I allowed close to me.

My husband claimed it was love at first sight. Now, looking back, I wonder whether everything was love or convenience? He was persistent, and eventually I grew to love him. Within six months of meeting, we were married.

No one truly understands the depth of pain that comes with betrayal until they experience it themselves. As I sit here and reflect on everything I endured, I’

30/08/2026

Behind Closed Doors. Read full story below:

From the outside, my marriage to Ade looked perfect. He was a successful businessman, and I was a stay-at-home mum to our two children, Tunde and Simi. We looke

30/08/2026

"Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women." - Maya Angelou

03/07/2026

Healing does not erase the hurt; it teaches you to live beyond it, to breathe around it, and to build a life that is larger than what wounded you.

09/02/2026

Behind Closed Doors Pt 1
From the outside, my marriage to Ade looked perfect. He was a successful businessman, and I was a stay-at-home mum to our two children, Tunde and Simi. We looked like the family many people admired. But behind closed doors, my life was a living hell, one I was too ashamed to speak about.
The abuse didn’t start all at once. At first, it came disguised as “jokes” and “constructive criticism.” Ade would make hurtful comments and brush them off as harmless, but beneath it all was a volatile temper that kept me constantly on edge. Over time, the words turned into slaps, and the slaps into punches. The confident, happy woman I once had slowly disappeared. I became quiet, withdrawn, and hyper-alert, constantly trying to predict his moods to avoid triggering his anger.
I told myself the children were too young to understand what was happening. But they did. Tunde, who was eight at the time, once asked me what he could do to make his daddy stop being angry with me. My heart broke. I reassured him it wasn’t his fault and continued to make excuses for Ade’s behaviour. I clung to the belief that because he didn’t always hit me in front of them, they couldn’t be that affected.

09/02/2026

Watch this space for Domestic Abuse survival stories and testimonies.