Nigerians have requested that PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) terminate the appointment of their lawyer Opeyemi Mabawonku after footage of him beating his wife surfaced online.
In the footage that lasts 1 minute and 55 seconds, Opeyemi was seen violently abusing his partner Abiola, former Lead HR at Paystack. Starting with verbal abuse in front of their two children, Opeyemi told his daughter to go play in their room barely upon their exit, he starts throwing things such as a glass vase at his spouse.
His, wife Abiola, curled in fear trying to hide underneath a table as he unleashed violence.
In the evidence uploaded online, Opeyemi continually asked her if his wife was “mentally ill” claiming she was being unfaithful. As he moved towards her, Abiola could be heard saying she would call her father if he hit her.
“If you don’t call anyone here, you’re a b*s*a*d,” he responded.
Following the footage, Nigerians asked PwC to terminate Opeyemi’s appointment while the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (LagosDSVA) prosecutes him.
Although PwC has yet to make an official statement about their staff’s violence, Lagos DSVA has assured the public that they would take swift action in the interest of justice.
“Thank you to everyone who has reached out or tagged us regarding this video. We appreciate your vigilance in bringing this to our attention. Now that we’re aware, we’re taking swift action to address the matter appropriately. #SGBVNotInOurLagos,” DSVA tweeted.
With the footage of Opeyemi’s violence against his wife amassing over 5.8m views, 8k quotes and reposts, and 8.6k likes, Nigerians reacted in shock, condemning the incident. At the same time, many Nigerian men victim-blamed the survivor.
“That Opeyemi Mabawonku guy they are all asking for PWC to sack now because of one video of him losing his temper might just be a victim of accumulated disrespect from that wife like this. Some men take the disrespect for a long time and when they explode, the woman plays victim,” Anti-feminist Femi Mohammed falsely claimed.
