Domestic Violence Fought Through Film By Remi Momodu

Remi Momodu US-based Nigerian actress and producer has commenced her fight against domestic violence on African women in diaspora as he concludes plans to premiere her much talked about debut feature film,” XYZA” in Nigeria.

"XYZA" which premiered in Baltimore last year addresses the stigma associated with domestic violence among Africans in diaspora. Momodu expressed her heart-felt desire to create awareness for this topic that no one wants to talk about. She was in Nigeria last week to promote the film. According to her, “This is of interest to me because the situation is very rampant in the place where I live in the United States. In recent times, we’ve had major cases where African men, particularly Nigerian men, who travelled back to Nigeria and brought their women back to America, many of the times, they are usually in the heath care business. They are interested in having affairs with registered nurses and people that are in the medical profession. For them, having anything to do with these people will help them regularize their stay abroad. They become cash cows where they can make more money. Because there was no courtship, the couples are always having misunderstanding. There were incidents where we actually lose these women to domestic violence.” Speaking further, she narrated an incident where a Nigerian man shot his wife to death and also took his own life because of irreconcilable differences. “ Before I came to Nigeria two weeks ago, we had a case. A Nigerian man married to an Igbo lady shot her to death. She had a five months old baby in the house with her mother and a seven year old son too. He also took his own life. They were all gone. So there are five children left. He had three children from Nigeria and two in America; so, five kids with no father or mother. So the story continues. It’s an endemic problem, it’s a public health issue.” 

Credit: Vanguard

She said, her aim is to draw attention to this social problem by partnering notable organizations to create awareness for domestic violence. The movie stars actors from Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria including, Ejike Okoye, the mother of three and ambassador described XYZA as a campaign against demotic violence. Apart from product films, Momodu is a registered Nurse, an actress, a fashion d