Seyitan Babatayo, the woman who accused D’banj of raping her in 2018, is maintaining that he indeed raped her.
This comes days after D’banj was spotted dancing to ‘Olorun Maje’, one of his old hit songs in an advocacy against social media judges.
Prior to releasing the dance video, D’banj had wondered why he was being judged on social media when the case was already being investigated.
However, reacting to the development after regaining her freedom from detention having been arrested by D’banj, she claimed that the musician arrested and intimidated.
According to her, the singer even bragged that he can “buy off ” anyone within the justice system in Lagos.
In her statement, Seyitan insisted that she was “violated and raped” by D’banj after he allegedly gained access into her hotel room.
She added that on June 6, 2020, she went to the Bar Beach police station in Victoria Island to make a formal report but she was not attended to. She said her attempt was “thwarted by an officer of the law at the said police barracks”.
On June 16, she said four armed police officers stormed her apartment and arrested her without a warrant. She said they gained entrance by pretending to be delivery guys.
According to Seyitan, she was placed in a police cell with criminals and no one disclosed her offence. She claims the following day, June 17, she was made to sign a “gag order” by the police and D’banj’s team and she “could only post on social media what had been approved by D’banj’s team”.
She said she was then released and D’Banj’s team allegedly picked her up and took her to an undisclosed location where she was “isolated, coerced, pressured, and intimidated in person by D’banj and his team.”
She alleged they took hold of her social media accounts and forced her to say that her statement was a publicity stunt.
She said her mother, her lawyer, and her friends couldn’t reach her until activists swung into action and tracked her using satellite mapping.
Seyitan added that “since June 18th, D’banj through his team has continued to harrass me.” She added that they also make threats.
Seyitan said she never came out for financial gain. She said at the time she came out, she only asked for an apology through her lawyers. She insists that the apology is all she’s still asking for.
She said she’s still dealing with the “effects of the rape, the trauma of recounting that multiple times this week and the indignity of being held against my will for two (2) days.”
“I’m still yet to come to terms with the fact that my fundamental human rights were stolen from me,” Seyitan said.
She added that no one should be subjected to what she has been through, from “the violent abuse which happened to me in a hotel room that the door was locked to being intimidated for speaking up,” she said
“Most importantly, nobody should have the right to use their name or status to intimidate survivors who speak out or to tamper with justice.”
Read her press statement below:
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