The Husband Who Left His Wife and Daughters Because Their Eyes Were Blue

Risikat and her daughtersPhoto byScreengrab from BBC

What makes a husband abandon his wife and two daughters? Risikat Azeez didn’t lose her husband because of infidelity, disagreement, or other marriage problems that lead to divorce. Instead, the young woman lost her husband because she was an African with blue eyes. Moreover, her husband’s resolve to walk away from the marriage was exacerbated by giving birth to two daughters who also, despite being black Africans, inherited their mother’s blue eyes.

According to scientists, blue eyes are so rare that only 8 percent of the world’s population have them. Additionally, the condition is even rare in the African continent. Nevertheless, while blue eyes are said to be blue, there is actually no blue pigment in blue eyes, and what determines the color of the eyes is the melanin present. Interestingly, blue eyes get their color the same way water and the sky get their color, with light reflected backward.

Surprisingly, Risikat is the only one in her family with blue eyes, and despite that, she never had a problem that negatively affected or impacted her eyesight. However, despite acknowledging that her husband loved her, she informed reporters that his family turned him against her when she gave birth to their second daughter. Speaking to the reporters, Risikat said, “My husband whose name is Abdul Wasiu Omo-Dada is very aware of the condition of my eyes and he loved me for who I am. Things started getting bad when I had my first child and later my second child. He totally changed and he would shut me up and walk out on me whenever I tried to start a conversation with him”.

Unfortunately for her, the relationship further deteriorated when her in-laws, repulsed by her blue eyes, intervened not to mend their struggling relationship but to incite their son against his wife further. Risikat, with sadness, stated, “His parents even told him, ‘Will you keep on giving birth to children with this kind of eyes?’ He changed to the extent that he would leave the house for a whole week before coming back home. There was no food and no provision that I had to go to my parents’ place to feed.”

Although Risikat and her two daughters are perfectly sighted and have no disabilities, the color of their eyes ultimately became the cause of their suffering. As a result, Risikat lost her husband, and her two daughters lost the love and support of their father.

Nevertheless, when Risikat’s story came out, her Nigerian compatriots on social media were enraged, and talks were on the way to reconcile the couple. However, considering there is no remedy for turning blue eyes to brown, I wonder what that would do.