Benue born
artiste, Zaaki Azzay and his wife, Hadiza has ended their 8 years marriage.
The marriage which
produce 3 children, we learnt has been dissolved few months ago when Zaaki turn
her wife into a boxer's punching bag.
We gathered that
the marriage ended four months ago but it became a public consumption when the
ex-couple engaged in a bitter custody battle which has attracted the attention
of the Police.
Hadiza, 29,
revealed that she packed out of her husband's house on April 17, 2012 after
being badly battered the day before by her erstwhile husband, Zaaki.
She was able to
leave with two of her children, but the third one, her eldest child, is still
living with Zaaki.
Hadiza revealed
that had been battering her for years; sometimes he would beat her so much she
would faint, but her family kept telling her to go back to him for the sake of
their children.
She said she left
him twice last year but returned to him after much pressure from family and
friends. But when the battery continued, she made up her mind to end her
marriage for good because she didn't want to be another dead wife.
Hadiza was a
housewife, so since leaving her husband she has been under the care of an NGO
that takes care of battered women. They've given her and her children shelter
and are taking up her case.
She says Zaaki has
been using the police to harass her, since they broke up four months ago.
Reacting to the
story, Zaaki said; “For now, I do not want to run fowl of whatever the court
ethics are, from my understanding of issues, once a matter is in court every
party strives as much as possible to refrain from making comments on such
matters or anything relating to it. I am surprised that Project Alert, or
whatever they call themselves, and the person, who ran away from her
matrimonial home months back, and who after a few months came with thugs, hefty
looking men in a black unregistered car, beat up my cousin and injured her on
her way back from picking the kids from school and forcefully adopted my
children, and then went to court after doing that, can now run to the press and
post so many statements to tarnish my image on the internet.
“I am not ready to
afford them the opportunity of cheap publicity, which I am sure, is what they
are looking for. A good lawyer should fight his case in court and not on the
pages of newspapers, 'am happy with some of the responses they are getting on
the net. If they need further info or clarification, they can get it from the
court or my counsel.”
The Interview
“I have always
warned him that ‘Zaaki, you would push me one day to a point that I can no
longer take your beatings anymore”, Hadiza, the 29-year-old wife of popular
Benue State-born musician, Zaaki Azzay, disclosed in a voice coated with pains
and regret.
The day of
reckoning finally came for the dark-skinned native of Benue State on April 17,
2012.
That fateful
morning four months ago, Zaaki’s estranged wife and mother of his three kids
bade farewell to their troubled union of eight years and vowed never to return
home again.
She thundered,
“There is no going back for me again on this marriage. I have tried all my best
to make it work for eight years. Our family and our pastor, Pastor Taiwo
Odukoya had consistently intervened to no avail.
The case of the
popular Banker, Mrs. Arowolo who was allegedly battered to death by her husband
and the Club Q owner, Susan, who was allegedly killed by her lover are still
fresh in the minds of everybody. I thank God that my case has not gotten to
that level. My life is precious to me.”
With a voice
dripping with pains, emotions and punctuated by throbbing flashbacks, the
battered wife of Na Me Go Marry Am crooner, recently sat down for over an hour
with the editorial crew of Sunday Express as she unearthed bitter memories of a
turbulent eight-year-old relationship with her musician husband.
She did not only
pour out her heavy heart to us, but also painted shocking picture of the
travails she allegedly went through in the hands of her violent husband while
the union lasted.
Flanked by her
lawyer, Benjamin Odeh, from Project
Alert, an NGO, religiously tackling
violence against women, the depressed and suppressed wife also disclosed that
she along with two of her kids have been living at the mercy of well meaning
Nigerians and the NGO.
Hadiza Azzay also
raised alarm that her life is no longer safe and appealed for help.
According to
Hadiza, she is now being threatened and harassed by the police on the false
allegation of child abduction by her husband.
You
said your husband, Zaaky Adzay, for a long time has been battering and
assaulting you; why did it take you this long to open up
I continued to
endure the battering because I was putting so many things into consideration.
Besides, no woman wants to go into marriage only to later jump out of it.
Everybody sees marriage as a lifetime thing. Over the period of my agony, I
spoke to a lot of elders and marriage counselors, they all told me to endure
because of our children. On so many occasions, I had parked out of his house
after unbearable assaults and beatings from the man I call my husband. In fact,
since our troubled marriage, I have packed out of his house a record eight
times. But each time I ran out of the house, my Dad and so many other persons
would summon meetings, after which I would be asked to go back to my husband.
Ironically, when I return, it won’t take my Zaaky up to a week before he would
start beating me again, without any justifiable reason. But this time around, I
have decided not to run to my father’s house, because when I do that they might
end up calling for meetings again for reconciliation-when my life is in danger.
He said he wants to oppress me, that he has connections which he will
continually use in suppressing me.
Let’s
know what really happened in this marriage; when did you marry Zaaky and when
did the battery and assault start
Our traditional
marriage was on a Valentine’s Day, which was February 2004, here in Lagos. And
our court marriage was on July 30, at Ado-Odo, in Ota, Ogun State. Few months
into our marriage, I was not feeling alright and he took me to his friend who
is a medical doctor. The Doctor tested me and discovered that I was pregnant.
Zaaky was not happy about the pregnancy, to the extent that he told the doctor
to abort it. The doctor called me and told me that he was not going to abort
any pregnancy that he had already told my husband he doesn’t carry out
abortions. It was from that period that Zaaky started beating and assaulting
me. He told me that I have connived with his friend not to abort the pregnancy;
he beat me severally in attempt to induce a miscarriage. He brought drugs and
gave me that I should swallow. I knew that drug was to terminate the pregnancy.
When the beating became so unbearable, I collected the drugs from him,
pretended as if I wanted to swallow it, then I ran out of the house as fast as
my feet could carry me.
It was Zaaky that
brought me to Lagos; I don’t have friends, I don’t know anybody except the
people he introduced me to. He doesn’t have any good record about anybody, even
when I bring a friend from school or any other place, he would conclude that that
person is trying to take me to a man, he sees everybody as evil.
How
often do you go out to shows with him
I don’t go to
shows with him. Simply because if I go with him, whenever we return home, he
must find a reason to beat me. Some times he would start asking me ‘why was
this man looking at you like this?’, or why was I looking at so so man like
that? How come I dressed like this and not like this?’ At a point I don’t even
choose what to wear… he will just bring out any cloth and say ‘wear this’. I don’t
even argue with him. Whatever he says I should wear, is what I always wear. At
a point I stopped going out with him, except some times when he would ask me to
go out with him so that the press would not start thinking otherwise. Yet
whenever we return, Zaaky must find a reason to beat me.
And
you were enduring all these daily beatings without kicking against it
I almost most died
in his hands. When I was pregnant, he was thinking I was going to give birth to
a baby boy. When I gave birth to a baby girl, while he was away, more troubles
started. He called and asked ‘how is my boy?’ I told him I gave birth to a baby
girl; that was how another problem started. He doesn’t do naming ceremonies for
his children, not to talk of birthdays. He would just go about lying to
everybody, especially the media that we just came back from USA…we just came
back from New York, etc, whereas we have never stepped out of the country
together. The only country I have been to is Cotonou (Benin Republic).
On
whose bill
On my bill! I have
Passport, which I had never used until when I went to Cotonou, just to
‘disvirgin’ the passport. But every time Zaaky will be lying that he spent
Valentine with his family in US, or any other country that comes to his head.
And he does all this in the front of his children, which is not good for their
upbringing. Sadly, this has eaten deep into the children, they will go to
school and be saying same thing.
Zaaky has beaten me on the street of Gbagada
before. So many people are aware of it. I was even surprised that the press
didn’t get to hear about it. Had it been I wanted to spoil his name, I would
have spoken out then….because City People Magazine’s office is not far from our
house. I would have just walked in and tell them about my everyday battering by
the man I call my husband. But I believed that marriage problem is something
the partners sort out between themselves. He keeps threatening my life. And he
said whenever he kills me that he will tell the press and police that he caught
me with a man. Today he will say Mr. A is my boyfriend, the next day he says it
is Mr. B. He even bought cutlass which he said he will use to kill me!
Are
you serious? He bought cutlass that he will use to kill you
That is just the
gospel truth. He bought cutlass and said he will use it to kill me. He has
brought in cutlass into our home on several occasions which I threw away. I
don’t know where he always buys those cutlasses. It is beating and beating
every day. If I go to school and return, another problem will start. I’m in my
final year at Lagos State University, studying History and International
Relations. He has seized all my credentials and said that I’m not going to
graduate, that with all his influences, he will make sure he frustrates me, and
makes life difficult for me. I’m tired of all these things, and that is why I’m
crying out now. The children are also psychologically traumatized.
Are
you saying the children knew about all these
They are very much
aware. We have three children-Zara, Dido, and Memi. Always, he will always want
to go through my phones and find out if there is anything in it.
One day I went to
school and somebody was like why don’t you lock your phone? I told the person I
don’t know about that. The classmate showed me and I locked my phone with my
son’s name, unknown to her that my husband always inspects my phone.
Surprisingly, that same day, at night, when he tiptoed into our room and picked
my phone and discovered it was locked, I told him the password , which wa our
son’s name and he was like “oh! That your boyfriend told you to be locking your
phone” before I knew what was happening he started beating me. He said
‘yesterday when I checked your phone, I saw a man’s picture’. Most times, he
will use my phone and send love messages to any male contact on my phone, to
know what the person will reply…Some times, he would write ‘hi love, how can we
meet?’ Some will call me later and start asking me what kind of message I sent
to them…very embarrassing.
On so many
occasions, some of my course mates have confessed to me that my husband gave
them money to even spy on me in the class. Sometimes, he will just drive into
the school with a different car, and be spying around on me.
Now
that you are out of his house, why is he still threatening you, especially with
the Police
Now, I’m scared of
my life. He is using both thugs and policemen to threaten me. He has gone to
the police station and gave false statements about me. I was invited by the
police; surprisingly when I got there the only question the officer asked me
was ‘where are the kids?’ …that I should go and bring the kids, instead of
asking me about what really happened. He was not ready to even listen to me.
Zaaky has been served with court notice, and he has never responded to it.
We
learnt he was once married, did he tell you about this prior to the wedding
Zaaky was once married and he never told me
about it until I got married to him. The lady he was married to then read
English Language at the University of Lagos. She was in Zaaky’s music video
entitled “Na Me Go Marry Am”. She once danced for Charley Boy. He never told
me. I heard it from somebody, and I asked him. He told me they were legally
divorced in a court of law. Then I had already had kids for him. When people
were telling me all the negative things about him, I never listened. Every day
he is changing women, even in my presence.
What
kind of a father was Zaaky to his children while the marriage lasted
Well, he tried to
an extent, but I will not say he provided for his family as a man should. He is
just full of lies. His only priority in life is to buy cars. Zaaky does not
even have a house of his own in Lagos, we lived in rented apartments. But he
keeps on lying to people that he is living in his own building. He only has a
land in Lekki or is it Ajah they call it, which he just fenced. We are just
tenants. He is full of lies. If I remain in that marriage, my life might be
snuffed out one day.
What
are you saying or insinuating
I want to make it
clear that Zaaky is currently threatening my life. And whatever happens to me
or any of my family members, Zaaky should be held responsible.
During
courtship, didn’t you see or notice this violent attitude in him
I met Zaaky in
2003 during CHOGM in Abuja. Then later Zaaky came to Kaduna with his friend,
called Hilary. Before then he used to call my dad’s office for inquiries,
because my dad is a journalist and runs an office on creative ideas; he is a
former Special Adviser on Political Affairs to former Governor of Benue State,
George Akume. Zaaky normally calls the office to book appointments to see my
dad, and I was my dad’s secretary then. Then he used to say he had a friend in
Kaduna called Hadizat, we never knew it was a name he gave to that same woman
that he was once married to. It was at that period that he said he wanted to
marry me, and I told him to go and see my dad. And jokingly, he went and met
with my dad. My dad told him to go and bring his people. That was how
everything was done hurriedly. We courted for just about four months.
After that marriage,
so many things have happened, he even beat me and dropping me and my sister on
the street of Oyingbo.
At a point I will
make my hair and he will ask me to go and remove it before he opens his
eyes. There was a day somebody just
finished making my hair in a saloon, he walked in and asked the girl to start
loosening it; immediately the girl said she won’t except he was ready to pay
for it. Before you knew it, Zaaky started beating the girl in public. They
created a scene that day. Even a friend of mine that came from a far place for
my court wedding was beaten up by Zaaky that same night after our wedding. The girl even wanted to publish the picture
of her battered face then. How many will I name? He has even beaten me in front
of my mum. If my mum visits, and she wants to go, Zaaky will start searching
her bag to know whether she stole anything from the house. If people come to
our place and jokingly said that my son or daughter look like my brother, Zaaky
would start saying how is he sure that it wasn’t my brother that impregnated
me. And I have told him to go ahead and carry out a DNA test. He would say why
are they not saying that his children look like him?
What
do you think is Zaaky’s problem
His problem is
lack of trust and jealousy. He doesn’t trust anybody.
Is
the church you attend aware of what you’ve been facing
Yes, my pastor,
Taiwo Odukoya, is aware, and so many others. He had summoned us on so many
occasions, more than five times. He will sit us down in his house and talk to
us for hours. At the end Zaaky will return home and continue from where he
stopped. At a point I stopped going to church fellowships. Because whenever I
return he would say somebody said they saw me coming out of a particular house.
He would say I’m a prostitute…that I would go to a man’s house, and lie that I
was coming from the church?
Are
you a prostitute
God forbid.
I have fainted
more than two times after being beaten mercilessly by Zaaky. The last one that
happened, he almost strangled me. There was a day he pulled my hair out with
his hand. Till today, that part of my hair has not grown again. And in all
these, I have always been treated by a family doctor. I have my medical
reports. At a point I couldn’t turn my neck again, until after treatment. The
issue is also psychologically affecting the children; they are not doing well
in schools.
You
said the police are accusing you of abducting your children, why
Yes! Zaaky went
and told them all sorts of lies. I have never seen a mother that abducted her
own children before. Two of my children are with me. One is with him. Even the
one that is with him is not in safe hands. I don’t know why the police are
being used to threaten me. There are things people should sit down and think
about before doing. Zaaky is 49 years old. In February, he will be 50. He is 19
years older than me.
How
old were you when you married him
I was 21. But
Zaaky has never told people his real age. Every year he is 34, 34, 34.
Is
your family making efforts to ensure the marriage survives
My dad has been
doing that; he said no matter what he has done, he is still a son to him.
Is
your dad still saying you should go back to him now
No. But he said I
should come back home. The last time I went back home, Zaaky sent thugs after
me. Gunmen chasing me around,
everywhere, that is why I have not gone back home.
Are
you sure it was Zaaky that sent them
I don’t know but I
believe he was the one, because he is capable of doing so. What I want now is
the custody of my children, because he can’t take care of them. Not with all
his womanizing attitude, even with our housemaids; it’s not good for the
children to remain with him.
Are
you saying he goes after your housemaids too
Yes. Because each
time I wake up in the night, most times around 12a.m or even 2a.m, I will see
Zaaky in the parlour with my house girl. He would tell me he is advising her
behind closed doors. Must the advice be in the midnight? All the mates he
brings from different states are his ‘cousins’.
The day you
finally decided it was over between you and him, what happened, we would like
to know?
I left on April
17. He came back that night around 1:30 a.m. That night he called on the
landline and I told the girls to go and open the gate, when he came in I was
lying on the mattress. Surprisingly he started kicking me with his shoe that
why didn’t I come and open the gate myself.
For
a man that fantasized about you in the past, at what point in the marriage did you start noticing changes
See, right from
the beginning, there was no fantasy. Forget all what he says in the press about
him loving his wife so much. After saying all those things in the press, he
will come back to me and say “don’t let your head swell oh”, that he was just
saying it, for saying sake.
You
said you weren’t in love with him at the initial stage, and that at a point you
started liking him; what was the source of the attraction
Then in Kaduna, I
used to read Mike Awoyinfa’s column in The Sun newspaper, my dad used to buy
the paper a lot. So in one of the editions, I saw Zaaki’s interview. The way he
was praising women in that paper amazed me and I said to myself, this must be
the best husband in the world. Besides, I had always wanted to marry a
Christian, because I was born a Muslim and Zaaky was one. There is no woman
enjoying her marriage that would want to leave. I was so battered that at a
point I started replying him when he talked. I thank God I have three children
already.
With
three children, that means he was battering you and still enjoying your body.
What would I do?
Why should I deny him that
Was
he also beating you during pregnancy
Hmmm. There was
never a point that Zaaky didn’t beat me,
even when I was in the hospital. He told me in the hospital that: “your
fellow women are giving birth to boys while you are giving birth to girls”. He
didn’t even tell my neighbours that I put to bed, just because it was a baby
girl. When I returned home, he took the baby and said he would throw her away,
that why should I give birth to a baby girl. It was only when I gave birth to a
boy that he started calling the whole world that his wife had put to bed. It
was only that time that the press published that Zaaky’s wife gave birth to a
baby boy . Most times, he would beat me, and I would end up sleeping inside the
only car he bought me-a Benz 190.
Is
he on drug
No. he doesn’t
even smoke.
Then
is it a psychiatric problem
If he can be
checked I will be happy with that. Because a normal human being would never act
the way he acts. People on my street know about all these abuses on me by the
man that claims to be my husband and father of my three children.
How
did you come in contact with project alert
I came in contact
with the NGO through a friend of mine. And they have been helping me since I
ran out of the house.
Zaaky is so
determined to finish me to the extent of going to MTN office to print out my
contacts. As I’m talking to you they are still monitoring me. Now, If I’m
entering a bus, I peep into it first because of fear.
You
enter bus, don’t you have a car
He bought me 190
like I said earlier on, but he decides the day I will drive it.
How
about the SUV he bought you
Which SUV? Zaaky
is a big liar. What he bought was Mercedez 190, which he decides when I will
drive it. Each time he goes out with his infinity, he comes back and boasts:
“yes, they saw me with the car”! His pride is too much. Not even a cup that he
has bought in my name, talk less of SUV.
N50,000, was the
highest amount of money he had given me to go and buy food stuffs. And when I
returned, he checked everything I bought to make sure it corresponded with the
money. Some times he will tell me that a bag of rice is not as costly as I
bought it. He doesn’t even buy things for the children. I buy clothes for the
children, mostly second hand wears, due to lack of money. It was last year that
somebody gave the children N200, 000; he collected the money and gave me N40,
000. That was the time my children enjoyed new clothes, in their lives time,
apart from the ones people bought for them.
Did
he set up any business for you
Which business?
The business I do, I do it behind him. I buy clothes and sell. But for now I’m
living under the mercies of people. Even this clothe I’m wearing now was bought
by people for me. I read somewhere where Zaakky said he drove me out of the
house. I want to make it clear that I ran out of the house. I ran for my life.
So
what do you want now
I want my
children. Whoever that can help me to get my remaining child from him should
help. And my life is in danger. I can’t even go to my family home because I
don’t know who he has planted that side to deal with me. I’m scared for my
life; I’m scared for the people helping me. The police should be called to
order. He should stop using them to threaten and harass me. They should
investigate the matter as officers of the law. I don’t want to marry Zaaki
again. The whole world should hear me. Project Alert has also sent a detailed
petition to the AIG of Zone 2, detailing how Zaaki has been using men and
officers of the Lagos State Police Command to harass and threaten my innocent
and defenceless life. I decided to come out and tell my story so that Nigerians
can hear and help me and my children. I’m tired of running and hiding like a
common criminal, just because I married a man and gave him my all for eight
years.
But
if he turns a new leave tomorrow, will you still love him
I don’t want to
answer that question. Who is talking about love here? Do you want me to die?
Let him turn to a good father to his children. This is the end of the road for
Zaaki and me. It’s over between us. The children are his; I won’t deny him
accesses to his children. He would go to church and be behaving like a good
man. If you see him praying, you will not believe it’s Zaaki.
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