Nigeria’s top female table tennis player and one of the best in Africa, Funke Oshonaike has recounted details of how she was sexually abused several years ago, but say she has since learnt the mistake she made back then by not speaking out, megasportsarena.com reports.
In adding her voice to the ongoing debate over the type of punishment that should be meted out to rapists, Oshonaike admitted she is happy seeing that Nigeria’s national assembly is now taking a serious look at sexual assault and the way women are treated.
The six-time Olympic Games star and three-time African champion added that has been inspired to tell her story after the rape and murder of 22-year-old Uwa Omozua in a church in Benin City, where the victim was found dead with a smashed skull and half-naked.
That incident sparked protests across Nigeria, with agitators and civil organizations demanding justice, while Oshonaike added that Omozua’s story brought up memories of her own horrific experience of being sexually assaulted.
The 45-year-old Germany-based ping-pong star, who was Team Nigeria’s flag-bearer at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, recalled that she endured the impact of what happened long after she finally left her abuser, but blamed lack of exposure and ill-perceived social stain for the inability of women to speak up about their sexual abuse.
She narrated how the abuse happened while she was competing well and winning national championships, after she first started playing table tennis at the age of 14, and just two years later she was part of Nigeria’s team for the 1991 All Africa Games.
Her first Olympics’ outing was at Atlanta 1996 in USA, by which time she revealed that the abuse had begun and, despite having a lot of attention on her, she found herself unable to escape from her misery; especially as the man who abused her had gained control of her earnings.
She recalled that each time she wanted to leave and demanded for her money to be paid by the abuser, she only ended up being beaten and ended up with bruises, until she summoned all the courage she need to survive and assured herself that quitting the game was not her option.
The table tennis Amazon added how she told herself that she had to pursue her dream of being a top player for Nigeria and Africa, all of which Oshonaike enthused that she is happy came to pass in her life and she is now a role model to other women who are victims of sexual abuse.
Oshonaike told BBC Sport: “Every time I hear the news of rape, it takes me back to my past. I was physically and sexually abused. It is my true story. Everything I’ve gone through has made me a mentor to others. I am able to share my stories with women who have been victims and encourage them to not give up on themselves
“I hope more women will be bold enough to come out and speak up. I am a survivor. He was a friend – I was naive. When he got angry, he beat me. He used his two thumbs to press my eyes. And he sexually abused me. I felt helpless, with blood all over me. I never knew it was called rape. All I knew was I felt dirty.
“I didn’t understand what he was doing to me. I have only recently realised it was rape. I was in the university of Lagos – I would go to school with bruises all over my body and people would question what was wrong with me. But I couldn’t tell anyone. I felt hypnotised. I was a slave in his hand. He told me to give him all my earnings.
“Each time I tried to run away, I would request my money – but he refused to release it. I was the Nigerian champion at this time, but I was not strong enough to tell anyone. I would go to my little corner and cry. Sometimes I felt like taking my life. I lost everything to this man. But I fought and got back on my feet. God kept me going on.
“The stories of Oprah Winfrey and Joyce Meyer kept me going through. I started my life all over again. The trauma stayed with me for years and it affected my sex life and marriage. I am just getting my mental health back. During my time we didn’t have social media, women were not bold to speak out.”
