Mecry Aigbe has never admitted that her movie, ‘Victim,’ released in 2015, came from a personal experience. But with the fresh development that surfaced some days ago, one can say the movie has something to do with her marriage. Or like a prophet, she saw this coming.
‘Victim,’ a movie directed by Lancelot Imasuen, was a gripping tale of trauma, vengeance and love. The movie is about Yeni, a young girl whose resentment for men was triggered by several emotional experience with them. It was told from the heart of a woman in deep pains, a deprived woman.
Then, Aigbe told this writer that violence against women or even men is a grave violation of human rights and it will forever be decried in the society.
“Victims will not only highlight the extraordinary strength of women who have been through such trauma but condemn the practice in its entirety,” she said.
When the news reached the public, little drama ensued the on social media. Aigbe shared on Instagram, “Say NO to DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. Only a coward hits a woman! REAL MEN don’t HIT!” And her husband, Lanre Gentry, quickly replied, “Say No to the promiscuous and irresponsible women.”
But in as much as the society condemns men hitting their women in spite of what could have gone wrong, at times this judgment could be harsh. Gentry accused his wife of being promiscuous and certain people have laid claims to that. While this may be debatable, it could make any man to lose his cool.
For instance, a man gets home after a long day and sees his wife in bed with a strange man. The man is expected to walk out, but we all know that only a few men would say no to temptation of attacking both the wife and concubine.
Also, from the way Aigbe has reacted to it, it is obvious they’ve been at each other’s jugular in the 7-year-old marriage long before now. I suspected that she had been quiet and tried to make the marriage work. If she actually did that, her stance is understandable. As her second marriage, she wanted it to work for the fear of the public’s scrutiny. Aigbe’s first marriage crashed, according to her, because of her mother-in-law. Since she was young and naïve then, she said she picked up issues with her ‘evil in-law’, which eventually led to a fallout with the husband.
It should be noted that at some point, Gentry denied beating his wife, adding that the battered pictures that circulated on the internet were images from scenes in her movie. I guess after seeing the reactions of the public, he thought of the need for some damage control but it was too late.
Despite moves by friends and relatives to mend fences between the once lovebirds, Aigbe went ahead to report the assault to the Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs for Justice.
Now, the mother of two has obtained a restraining order from the Ikeja Magistrates’ Court. In its ruling, the court stipulates that Lanre is restrained from going anywhere within a one-mile radius of the applicant and the two children in her custody.
For Gentry, he must explore all the options available to him. Of all the three women that have had children for him, he is legally married to only Aigbe. If the case goes in his wife’s favour, he could lose all he had worked for, to her.
