Alleged Rape: Police arrest D’banj’s accuser — Lawyers

The police have arrested Seyitan Babatayo, who accused singer, Dapo Oyebanjo aka D’banj, of raping her at Glee hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos, in 2018.

Ms Babatayo’s lawyers, Ojoge, Omileye, and Partners, confirmed her arrest in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday in Lagos.

“They arrested Seyitan this morning in Lagos. They arrested our client but somebody is already there to facilitate her release on bail,” her lawyers revealed.

“This matter is coming to Abuja by tomorrow; we are petitioning. The Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) is taking up the petition tomorrow. That is all I can say about it for now,” they said.

But Bala Elkana, the Lagos State Police spokesperson, said he was not aware of any arrest.

The lawyers, however, failed to confirm if their client had been released. They did not pick their calls when a PREMIUM TIMES reporter called again late Tuesday.

Compensation

Meanwhile, D’banj, through his lawyers, Mike Ozekhome Chambers, has asked Ms Babatayo to pay N100 million as compensation for falsely accusing him of rape.

In a letter signed by his lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, and addressed to Ms Babatayo’s lawyers, the singer demanded that his accuser pays the sum within 48 hours or risk legal action.

In the same letter dated June 15, the singer also demanded that a letter of apology and retraction of her statements be written by his accuser and published in four national dailies.

The letter read, “We have been instructed to demand and we do hereby demand from you the following: That your client makes an outright apology and a total retraction of each and every false allegation made against and concerning our client.

“The said apology and retraction shall be published in four national dailies with wide circulation in Nigeria as well as on social media platforms and handles being used by your client and her hirelings.

“That your client makes a compensatory deposit of the sum of N100m only through this chambers in favour of our client to assuage his battered image,” the statement read in part.

Irate D’banj

D’banj finally reacted to the rape allegations leveled against him more than a week after the news broke on his Instagram page.

The Kokomaster, as he is popularly called, said he will only be addressing the issue that he described as “a lie from the pit of hell” once and for all, as he has handed the case over to his legal team.

He said the issue is a “huge slap to his family and the people who believed him”.

“I have chosen to do so because the incident is a slap to my marriage and my beautiful wife, my entire family, and those who believe in me,” he said.

“I did not want to dignify the slurs with a response but it appears my silence has empowered my accusers to think I have been scared into the shadows so I would like to state that this accusation is false and ludicrous and (I) have been handed over to my legal team, while the Nigerian Police is investigating the criminal aspect of it.”

The singer added that he found the accusation more painful because it is coming weeks before the anniversary of his son’s death.

In the wake of the rape allegations, D’banj bagged a partnership deal with a popular Nigerian bank. The deal coincided with his 40th birthday.

Ms Babatayo lawyers have requested the bank to put the deal on hold.

READ ALSO: Alleged Rape: Lady demands apology from D’banj

A copy of the letter addressed to the bank was obtained by PREMIUM TIMES.

In the letter dated June 10, 2020, the lawyers requested that the bank put on hold the multimillion naira deal with D’banj until the rape case levelled against him is resolved.

They stated in the letter that Ms Babatayo has nothing against the bank’s decision “but she believes it is a bad time to present such a deal to someone who still has an alleged rapist tag on him”.

“While we know that presumption of innocence inures in favour of Mr Oyebanjo, he still has the tag of “alleged rapist” attached to his name and we thought your bank should have acted better instead of presenting Mr. Oyebanjo with the said ‘Birthday Gift,'” the letter read in part.

They added that “the interest of the bank’s shareholders, investors, and customers is greater than that of an individual, and any activity that could be perceived as promoting an alleged rapist could bring the bank to disrepute.”

Background

A Nigerian model scout, Benjamin Ese, alleged that Dbanj raped his friend on December 31, 2018, at Glee hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos.

He said this on Instagram on June 3.

Not disclosing the friend’s name, Ese wrote that his friend had attended a party in Lagos and was sighted by Dbanj “who wanted to have sex with her”. He went on to reveal how she was allegedly raped by the musician.

Thereafter, Ms Babatayo revealed herself and demanded a public apology from the ‘Kokomaster’, D’banj, through her lawyers.

The official demands contained in the letter addressed to the singer include a personal letter of apology.