In an interview with Tribune, Pastor Ojo said he decided to honor his wife by going to pay her dowry in September, years after her family initially disagreed on their union.

Going down memory lane, Pastor Ojo said when he met Olabisi during his youth, he was very poor and also had come from a poor family background. Olabisi on the other hand, was from a priviledged home. At the time they met, she was living with her Uncle who was grooming her for one of his colleagues who worked as a driver at the Nigeria Railway Corporation.

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Bisi however, refused to give in to her uncle’s demands as her heart was already with Olusola Ojo and she was ready to stay with him, despite his poor background.

For refusing to do as he requested, Olabisi was often victimised by her uncle but that did not dissuade her as she stood her grounds that she would marry no other person but Pa Ojo.

On many occasions, her uncle will beat her into coma so that she could denounce me. Because of Bisi’s determination to marry me, she would not change her mind even when her uncle took her to Kafanchan in the northern part of Nigeria, with the belief that distance will remove my love from her heart. One day, after serial persecutions, Bisi returned to me and assured me that even if I had married five wives, she is ready to become the sixth.

“When all persuasions to make my in-laws accept their daughter’s bride price from me failed, the General Superintendent of the Christ Apostolic Church, Nigeria, advised us to go by statutory marriage through which we were certified as husband and wife in 1972. Few years into our marriage, my in-laws had a change of heart; since then we have maintained a good rapport,” he said.

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Pa Ojo says they lived so happily that his in-laws forgot to ask him for the dowry of their daughter.

“In fact, the relationship with all my in-laws had been so cordial such that nobody was asking for bride price anymore but because of my belief as a Christian, bride price is a must in God’s view; so I must pay it, at least if it is just to show how much I value my dear wife – Olabisi”.

On her part, Mrs Ojo said she agreed to stick with her husband at the time when he as poor because she knew she could afford to take care of the him.

“I knew I could take care of him, I concluded so because my parents were financially buoyant – my mother was a produce buyer while my father was a commercial farmer. But to my people, he was poor beyond redemption, they called him ‘one-man-one-jacket.’ It took much pacification before I was allowed to marry him. I thank God for his mercy on both of us, our children inclusive for whom we have become today. I have to thank Him especially for His special kindness to me. Up till this moment, I have never had any cause to regret that I married my husband. Most especially, I am grateful to God that I am also among those women who were married traditionally; appreciating me before my people by paying my dowry. I am indeed happy that it happened to me,” she enthused.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mr Emmanuel Holortu, Northern Regional Coordinator of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service (GPS), who gave the advice, said such a practice was dangerous and amounted to courting domestic violence.

He gave the advice when making a presentation during an orientation on gender based violence laws and management of domestic violence cases for members of Kpandai District Domestic Violence Committee at Kpandai.

The orientation, which focused on Domestic Violence Act, Criminal Offences Act and the Children’s Act, was to enhance community participation in the enforcement of laws against sexual and gender-based violence cases in the district.

DOVVSU of the GPS in collaboration with the Northern Regional Coordinating Council with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has formed 21 Domestic Violence Committees at the Kpandai District to help create awareness about domestic violence and report such cases for prosecution.

ASP Holortu said women who provided dowry for their marriages were bound to suffer domestic violence as well as divorce as their husbands believed that their wives forced them into the marriage.

He said such situations were common in the country saying it is the duty of men to provide the dowry to show their love and commitment for the marriage.

He also spoke against forced marriages saying people should be allowed to choose their partners to avoid domestic violence associated with such marriages.

ASP Holortu spoke about the cases of domestic violence being recorded in the region calling for inter-agency collaboration to prosecute perpetrators of such crimes to reduce the trend.

He commended members of the Kpandai District Domestic Violence Committee for the hard work, which had led to increased reporting of domestic violence cases at the district.

At Kpandai District, 60 cases of domestic violence were recorded in 2016 as against 13 cases in the first quarter of this year.

Mr Samuel Owusu Boateng, Kpandai District Coordinating Director urged members of the Domestic Violence Committees at the district to intensify their efforts to ensure increased awareness on domestic violence and support for victims as well as report such cases for prosecution to reduce the trend.

Madam Stella Amoani, Member of the Domestic Violence Committee from Balai Community at the district, said the orientation had helped to better explain domestic violence cases and how to handle such cases in relation to the laws of the country.