It has been revealed that with civil and criminal actions being instituted against Lanre Gentry, estranged husband of Nollywood actres...
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It has been revealed that with civil and criminal actions being
instituted against Lanre Gentry, estranged husband of Nollywood actress,
Mercy Aigbe, there are indications of a tough time ahead for the
hotelier who, on Tuesday, was quizzed by the Lagos State department of
Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT).
According to The Nation, the visibly angry Commissioner for Women
Affairs and Poverty Alleviation in Lagos State, Mrs. Lola Akande,
revealed that it was disheartening to see the state Aigbe was when she
came to her office to report the case.
“She was coughing blood from her nose and mouth and she had
injury on her face which the doctor said she must have an operation. I
was so angry that I need to see the face of the man that did this to
her, and so we invited him and he came yesterday (Tuesday) to say his
own side of the story to the official in charge of domestic violence.
But any man that can beat a woman to a pulp like that to the extent that
she is still coughing blood one week after the incident need to have
his head examined,” said Akande.
According to her, the Lagos State Government has secured a restraining order for Aigbe from any further abuse by her husband.
She commended the courage of Aigbe for voicing out her ordeal, and
urged other women going through similar situation not to keep quiet
about their ordeal.
“I must commend the courage of mercy, because what she did is
what other women who are victims of domestic violence out there need to
do, they don’t need to hide it except they want to die there.”
Adding her voice to the matter, Coordinator of DSVRT, Mrs. Titilola
Vivour-Adeniyi, said the order henceforth prevents Mr. Gentry from
getting close to his wife until further notice, assuring that the
government would pursue the case to a logical conclusion.
She disclosed that Gentry, who may be charged for domestic
violence, is expected to appear in court in two weeks’ time to give
reasons why the restraining order should not be made perpetual.
Vivour-Adeniyi said the State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode was
committed to stemming the tide of domestic violence, regardless of who
the victim or the offender is, saying that Aigbe is yet another victim
whose case would be treated according to the law.
“We are actually working on the case with the Ministry of Women
Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA), we are handling both civil and
criminal. The criminal aspect of the domestic violence has been reported
to the DPO of Area F and we accompanied her to the station with a view
to charging the criminal aspect to court. So that is being handled.
“The civil aspect which is to ensure that she is protected,
that is where the restraining order comes in, which is provided by the
Prevention Against Domestic Violence Law 2007. So, we approached the
family court and we got a restraining order on her behalf, restraining
Mr. Gentry from I think one mile from her.”
