Police clear D’Banj as Seyitan withdraws rape petition

Oladapo Oyebanjo, aka D’Banj, has been cleared of rape after his accuser, Seyitan Babatayo, withdrew her petition.

In a letter dated July 17, 2020, addressed to the Inspector-General of Police through her lawyer, Seyitan said she was withdrawing from the case for personal reasons.

The letter read in part, “We hereby officially notify you of our client’s intention to withdraw and discontinue her petition against Mr. Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo aka D’Banj for personal reasons. Our client further humbly applies that the investigation and all other action that is currently being carried out by the police with respect to the statement.”

Reacting to the letter, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Admin), Umar Sanda, said investigation had discontinued due to lack of evidence.

Human rights group, Stand To End Rape Initiative (STER), said Seyitan decided to end the case without receiving any monetary compensation.

The statement from STER reads in pert: “On July 13, 2020, Ms. Babatayo informed STER that a private non-monetary agreement was reached with D’Banj’s team. We, therefore, present this statement as the full account of our stewardship on this matter.”

Press Statement: In line w/ our key values— integrity & transparency; this is a detailed report of STER & partner NGO’s intervention in the case of Ms Seyitan Babatayo against Mr Oyebanjo (aka D'Banj).
As an NGO, STER remains committed to supporting survivors of SGBV in Nigeria. pic.twitter.com/BaR0cPN9Pu
— S.T.E.R Initiative (@StandtoEndRape) July 24, 2020

Recall that Seyitan had accused D’banj of raping her at Glee Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, in December 2018. She came out after a model scout called out D’banj for raping a female friend of his (Seyitan), though he didn’t name her. Also, D’banj’s former manager said that Seyitan had called him one morning in December 2018 to say that D’banj got the key to her hotel room and raped her.

Seyitan, through her lawyers, filed a suit, demanding an apology from the singer.

D’banj denied the allegation and sued Seyitan for defamation. He demanded N100 million Naira as compensation

Later, D’banj was accused of using his influence to intimidate and detain Seyitan after she couldn’t be reached by her family/ lawyers. While she couldn’t be reached, a tweet was sent out via her Twitter account to promote D’banj’s new song. Another tweet was also sent out stating that she wanted to leave everything behind her and move on.

Seyitan later released a statement where she claimed that she was detained and intimidated by D’banj’s people and they took control of her social media account. She also said she stands by her claim that she was raped by the musician. D’banj reacted by suing her again, this time for N1.5 billion.

She has now withdrawn the petition and the police are discontinuing the case against the musician.