The woman who accused Nigerian music mogul, Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo, better known by D’Banj, of rape, Seyitan Babatayo has in a new development, released a statement detailing the timeline of events since she came out with her story.
In her statement, Seyitan insists that she was sexually assaulted by the singer. She claims that he arrested and intimidated her after she came out with her story then and also threatened that he can “buy off anyone within the justice system in Lagos“.
In Seyitan’s statement, she stresses that she was “violated and raped” by D’banj after he allegedly gained access into her hotel room on December 30, 2018.
She says she was forced to come out with her story on June 3rd, 2020, to call the singer out over his “hypocrisy” after he went online to make a post about “saying no to rape“.
Seyitan revealed that on June 6th, 2020, she went to the Bar Beach police station in Victoria Island to make a formal complaint but was not attended to. According to her, her attempt was “thwarted by an officer of the law at the said police barracks“.
Ten days after she tried to report her case to the police, she said 4 armed police officers stormed her apartment and arrested her without a warrant. She said they gained entrance by pretending to be delivery guys.
She revealed that her mother was not arrested as was claimed by reports. She says she was detained in a police cell with criminals with no one disclosing what her offence was.
She said 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 then revealed she was 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.”
Seyitan claims they allegedly 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 were unable to 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 said they also make threats.
According to her, 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 also 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.”
She went on to thank those who stood by her and asked for time to heal.
Here’s her press statement below.
