IG orders probe of D’Banj over rape allegations

The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has ordered a probe into the allegations of rape levelled against popular Nigerian musician, Oladapo Oyebanjo who is more popularly known as D’Banj.

This was contained in a letter signed by the Principal Staff Officer to the IG, DCP Idowu Owohunwa, with the reference number CB.7000/IGP.SEC/ABJ/VOl.484/801.  It was addressed to the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Force Criminal Investigation Department, Area 10, Garki, Abuja.

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The IG’s probe request was in response to a petition written to him by Mr. Tommy Ojoge-Daniel, a lawyer to Miss Seyitan Babatayo, who accused D’Banj of raping her in 2018.

In reply, the IG requested a probe in letter written titled, ‘Re: Petition Against (1) Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo (Aka D’Banj) for Rape Indecent Sexual Assault, Attempted Assault on Miss Seyitan Temidayo.’

The letter read in part, “I forward herewith copy of letter dated June 5, 2020 received from Ojoge, Omileye and Partners on the above underlined subject. I am to respectfully convey the directive of the Inspector-General of Police that you treat this as urgent… Accept the assurances of my esteemed regards please.”

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The story of Seyitan’s abuse in the hands of D’banj was made first made by Seyitan’s friend, Benjamin Ese, in a Twitter thread in early June. She had told the story of how D’Banj allegedly raped Seyitan at a hotel in December 2018.

According to Ese, the incident happened at an all-white party where D’Banj allegedly offered her friend some money to spend the night which she rejected. However, D’banj surprisingly showed up in Seyitan’s hotel room around 2 in the midnight.

“D’Banj drove all the way from Eko hotel where he was lodged and came down to Glee hotel in Victoria Island around 2.40 am and collected the spare key from the receptionist,” Ese said in the thread which has since sparked an outrage.

She said D’Banj allegedly “got into my friend’s room and forcefully threatened he would walk her out of the room naked, kept his fingers in her vagina and repeatedly raped her.” Ese claimed that the rape experience had left Seyitan traumatized.

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One month after Ese’s tweets, Seyitan publicly presented herself as the lady who was allegedly raped by D’Banj in December 2018.

The musician, however, denied the accusations and asked Seyitan to make a public apology and also pay him the sum of N100m in damages.

On Tuesday, however, some policemen allegedly acting on the instruction of the musician detained Seyitan for over 24 hours and intimidated her, making her delete all chats, social media posts and other vital information from her phone.

The incident has sparked an outrage on social media and D’Banj has been trending on social media for the last two days as Nigerians berated him for misusing his influence.

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D’Banj is one of Nigeria’s biggest artists having won several music awards, including the awards for Best African Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2007, Artist of the Year at the MTV Africa Music Awards 2009, Best International Act: Africa at the 2011 BET Awards, and Best-selling African Artist at the 2014 World Music Awards.

In addition, he also won the Evolution award at the 2015 MTV Africa Music awards. He boasts of a scandal-free career, and there have been speculations that he is bent on protecting that reputation at all costs.

Feminists and several human rights groups have since called on the police to ensure that justice is served regardless of the musician’s status.

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