Run from abusive men—Vicky Zugah

POPULAR actress, Vicky Zugah has advised women to run away from their abusive relationships to save themselves from premature deaths.

Vicky, a survivor of an abusive relationship, is an advocate against abuse of women in relationships. She believes no union is worth exchanging one’s life for.

Her call was amplified last week after the death of popular Nigerian Gospel singer, Osinachi Nwachukwu of Ekueme fame which was attributed to domestic violence.

According to Vicky, the cultural and religious set up of the African society has caged many people, especially women, in such fruitless unions leading to early deaths.

In a chat with Graphic Showbiz, Vicky said: “I’ve been there and I know that it takes lots of strength to come out of such a relationship.

"You lose so much including your self-esteem. I will never advise any woman to be in an abusive relationship because the man you claim you love will kill you one day.”

“Besides, how can someone who says he loves you abuse you emotionally, verbally and physically? What kind of love is that?

"I have been there, felt the heat and know how at a point I thought my world was crushing right in front of me just to make my union work.”

“But I came to an understanding that I cannot love anyone better than me by subjecting myself into a punching bag because when the person does it once, he will do it again and again.

"The first one is a prelude to the many others that will follow; this is what always happens,” she said.

Vicky Zugah is an advocate against abuse of women

To Vicky, an abusive man can never change. “You can never change an abusive man unless God touches the heart of such a person.

"I’m passionate about this because I know many women are in abusive relationships and marriages and yet don’t have the strength to walk out because of what society will say.”

“The end results will be their family coming for their corpse like it happened to this Gospel musician but then, it will be too late to remedy the situation.

"Also, no woman should use their children as excuse to stay in an abusive relationship but rather be a source of strength to walk out since no one can properly take care of them when you die,” she said.

Away from that, Vicky said she was grateful her Red Light show on UTV was getting good ratings.

“It’s been just two years but I can say that the positive stories, impact and feedback are quite encouraging. I get messages on Facebook and Instagram pages giving us thumbs up on how impactful the show has been,” she added.