Olajumoke Orisaguna, widely known as “Olajumoke Onibread,” has shared the painful story of how domestic violence not only affected her personal life but also derailed her promising career.
The former bread hawker turned model gained widespread attention in 2016 after she accidentally walked into a photoshoot with British rapper Tinie Tempah, photographed by celebrated Nigerian photographer TY Bello.
Her transformation into a star captivated millions, but after a brief moment in the spotlight, she seemed to vanish, leaving fans to wonder what happened. Recently, during an interview on City FM, Olajumoke revealed the struggles that led to her retreat from fame.
According to Olajumoke, her troubles began with her ex-husband, Sunday Orisaguna, and a difficult home environment in Ire, Osun State. She described enduring mistreatment from her mother-in-law and regular physical abuse from Sunday. Even after moving to Lagos and achieving unexpected fame, her situation did not improve.
Despite her rising career, Sunday allegedly continued to abuse her, monitoring her movements, accusing her of infidelity, and even tarnishing her reputation after their separation. She also disclosed how societal stigma kept her silent for years, but the pain and damage eventually became too much to bear.
In her words: “What I am saying now, I have never said it out before. Even when I met TY Bello and I told her that I had a husband, my friend was furious when she found out. She was like I do not have sense, why would I say someone who beats me is my husband? I had to explain that I had to say that because I have children. That was how he came to Lagos. Even in the house that was rented for me in Surulere, he would still beat me up.
“I did not even tell TY Bello what was going on. I could not even admit that we were not married. I am a very gentle person so I did not tell anyone what was going on, I was enduring all of it. Sometimes when he goes out to drink, because he is someone to have a good time, when he gets back and a minor misunderstanding happens, he would start beating me again. It is almost four years since we separated.
“While he was beating me, he did not have a job. I was the one who would go out to hustle for us because I did not want my children to suffer. He would just stay at home and sleep or go out to drink. I did not even disturb him from doing these things, I just wanted him to stop beating me. Then he also started monitoring me when I went to work. If I go for photoshoots, sometimes I come back very late. He would accuse me of sleeping around with other men.
“So I decided to finally leave him. It got so bad that he would even start insulting my parents. It was when I separated from him, that was when everything started going down the drain because he started spoiling my name. All those who had helped me then, he started saying bad things against them. Since then, things started going down.”
