Meet the Nigerian woman who was addicted to porn

On the face of it, bubbly Oghosa Ovienrioba is a 22-year-old with a bright future ahead of her. A pretty and intelligent Law Graduate, Oghosa is also a popular vlogger to boot. But Oghosa used to hide a dark secret: she was addicted to online pornography.

It was an addiction that first kicked in when she was just 14 years old and sneaked a look at online porn on her computer. And from the ages of 18 to 21, she would lock herself in a dark room & watch adult movies endlessly.

At her worst point, Oghosa would masturbate between five and six times a day – and watched a total of over 400 hours of adult material

But now Oghosa has become a hero to other sufferers after bravely speaking out about her porn addiction on YouTube – in a series that has amassed over 800,000 hits.

Oghosa says, ‘When I uploaded that video in February, I had no idea how phenomenal the response would be. I received hundred of heartwarming comments from women who were going through the same thing for years. Lots of people don’t think girls can suffer a porn addiction but it’s a problem for both sexes. I hope I can help others out there – talking about your problem is the first step.’

Oghosa, who began watching online pornography in 2006, says that it was dangerously easy for her to access.
She said: ‘I was 14 years old when I went to find porn on the internet. It was out of curiosity and it was just a simple Google search for me to get hold of an adult movie.

‘When I first watched it, my reaction was shock. But gradually over time, that shock becomes excitement and I would use any porn that I could get my hands on.’
Her habit started to become a worrying obsession by age 16 when she began watching adult movies as often as she could.
She said: ‘I was watching it so much that I started to get bored by the “normal” soft porn movies.
‘I wasn’t getting the buzz that I felt when I first saw it – in fact I was almost desensitised to that content.

‘I went from watching soft pornography to dodgier stuff to get the kick I needed.’
Oghosa’s addiction briefly stopped when she had a six-month relationship with a boy at age 18.
But when she started university and found herself single again, the downward spiral of her addiction recommenced.

She said: ‘I was at a university and alone in a new city. I guess it was a trigger and I just went downhill from there.
‘For a period of two to three years, I was watching porn on a daily basis and sometimes masturbating over six times per day. It was all I could think about.’

She continued: ‘I didn’t see people as people anymore – they were just sex objects to me.
‘The simplest things could set me off such as a girl unbuttoning her blouse or a boy taking his top off. Everything made me want more.
‘I would sit in my room alone for hours, with the lights off, watching porn. I felt lonely and ashamed of myself.’

When Oghosa turned 21, she found Christianity and knew it was time to confront her problem. She made several lifestyle changes so she would not return to old habits again.

She says: ‘I spoke to a friend about my addiction and that was a huge release for me. It was a first step.
‘Talking about it made me realise how much of a problem it was – you’re only as sick as the secrets you keep.
‘As a Christian, you have to be quite controlled about what you let into your heart, in terms of what you see and do.’

She continued: ‘So now, I don’t read sex scenes in books and I don’t listen to oversexualised music.

‘There are some artists that just sing about sex and it’s best to avoid that, I also try to avoid inappropriate programmes on TV late at night.’
As part of her recovery process, she posted a YouTube video in February 2014 in which she revealed her porn addiction to the world. The response from viewers was overwhelmingly positive.

She explains: ‘When I read some of the comments on that video, it brings a tear to my eye. People have told me how alone they felt with their addiction until they saw my video.’
Oghosa believes that there should be age restrictions on online pornography to make it less available to children.
‘It’s heartbreaking to know that children can still access pornography so easily like I did. There are age restrictions on drinking and smoking – the same should go for porn.’

A spokeperson for The Marylebone Centre of Psychological Therapies said: ‘The internet is having a huge impact on human sexuality as an infinite variety of material is available through picture sites, chat rooms, live shows, bulletin boards and web-cams.
‘Internet sexual addiction is a form of sexual addiction and it is important to have someone to talk to about your feelings in general.’

Culled from UK Daily Mail