Seyitan Babatayo, the woman who accused singer, D’banj, of raping her in 2018, has accused the Nigerian Police of unlawfully detaining her and the singer of pressuring her to admit that she made allegations to gain publicity.
She said this in a press statement allegedly released on her behalf by a law firm named Bronks and Montgomery, on Wednesday.
The statement provided a timeline of events from December 30, 2018, the day of the alleged assault to June 18, 2020, when she was rescued after being allegedly held hostage by D’banj’s team.
She also claimed she that she was locked up in a cell with criminals just for daring to speak up about the assault
“On June 16, 2020, four armed policemen stormed my apartment, and arrested me without a warrant. They seized my phones, other personal effects and detained me in the police cell overnight at IGP – IRT Office at Harold Shodipo, Ikeja.
“On June 17, 2020, with various efforts, I was released from custody after being made to sign a gag order by the police and D’banj’s team, and could only post on social media what had been approved by D’banj’s team. I spent the night in a location of D’banj’s team’s choosing, which was not made known to the public…,” the statement reads in part.
In it, she repeated her earlier claim about D’banj gaining access to her hotel room after using his influence to obtain an extra key from the hotel management after which he sexually assaulted her.
She also maintains that she was arrested on June 16 after going public with the allegations and coerced into recanting her statement and thanked the public for their support especially those who have contributed money for her legal defense.
On Monday, D’banj shared a video of himself singing and declared that he was innocent until proven guilty.
“Innocent until proven guilty. Stop social media trial.#SAY no to rape and human rights violation,” he captioned the Instagram video.
