Phyna: I had two abortions because my parents were poor

The winner of Big Brother Naija (BBNaija) season seven, Ijeoma Josephina Otabor, popularly known as Phyna, has disclosed the reasons she had two abortions in the past.

Phyna recently disclosed she has had two abortions after an altercation with a Twitter user.

The incident started after the reality TV star took to her Twitter handle to ask fans to join her for a chat in the comment section of her tweet.

Responding to her post, a user said the gist is that Beauty Tukura, a former BBNaija housemate, remains her “mother”.

The user further called Phyna an “abortionist”, saying: “Wish I can say the same to you but bc you’re an abortionist I’ll just sush…”

Reacting, the reality TV star, in a now-deleted tweet, said she has had two abortions, saying: “Yes, I have had 2 abortions but I don’t do sugar daddies and force small small boys to sleep with me and hoeing around with disease at least I am not barren due to drugs.”

However, Phyna, in an interview with PUNCH, said she had two abortions in the past because her parents were poor.

She disclosed that she had her first abortion at the age of 19, saying the second abortion occurred at the age of 24.

She added that she would have kept the second pregnancy but she aborted it because she was in a toxic relationship.

Phyna said: “As for my reasons for taking abortion pills, if there are 100 women in Nigeria today, 98 have done abortions. So, no one should judge me.

“I was in a 12-year relationship then and I was so young. The first abortion was when I was 19; I couldn’t go home to tell my parents that I was pregnant at that age. And the two pregnancies were so early like two to three weeks that I could just use tablets.

“The second was when I was 24, and I had finished serving then. I was ready to keep it but the relationship was getting toxic. He abused me and always beat me up. I said to myself that I couldn’t do this anymore, so I took it out and that was how I ended the relationship.”

When asked if she would have considered abortion if she was in her current state, the reality TV star said: “Why would I do that? The way I am now, I have money to take care of 10 children, so why?

“In fact, if my parents were rich at the time of my first pregnancy, I wouldn’t have aborted it. But because I knew I was from a very poor background, we used to eat once a day then, especially in the afternoon, and then carry it till the next day. So, keeping the baby then, was no option for me.”

The Star

Segun Ojo