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Music veteran D’banj 'settles' with rape accuser Babatayo Seyitan

Babatayo had claimed that the music veteran raped her back in 2018.
Seyitan Babatayo claimed D'banj raped her back in 2018 at Glee Hotel [Instagram/IamBangaLee] [Instagram/Seyitann]
Seyitan Babatayo claimed D'banj raped her back in 2018 at Glee Hotel [Instagram/IamBangaLee] [Instagram/Seyitann]

Nigerian music star Oyebanjo Dapo also known as D'banj has settled with Seyitan Babatayo, the 25-year-old woman who accused him of rape. 

D'banj had been accused by Babatayo of forcing his way into her hotel room and raping her in December 2018.

In the latest development on the case, Stand To End Rape (S.T.E.R) a non-profit geared towards helping rape victims, who were involved in the case have released a statement that revealed that D'banj and the accuser reached a 'non-monetary settlement'.

"On 13th of July 2020, Ms Babatayo informed STER that a non-monetary agreement was reached with D'banj's team," part of the statement read.

In the statement, STER said they refused to be involved in talks over a settlement as it goes against the organisation's policy. 

"Such settlements, in our experience, often involve an asymmetry of power between the accused and the victim," STER said. 

"More importantly, while private settlements are usual in civil disputes, they are, however, not applicable to criminal cases, particularly where a felony has been alleged to have been committed, only the State has the authority to discontinue a criminal investigation and prosecution."

In their response, however, Ms Babatayo’s legal representative, Olamide Omileye of Ojoge, Omileye, and partners told Premium Times that the only agreement reached was that “both parties are going to stand down on media trials and allow the law to take its course.”

He said both parties have agreed to desist from making any post or leaking any information to the public and allow the police to carry out their investigation.

“The police are still doing their investigation. Last week, Seyitan was in Abuja, D’banj was also in Abuja. They met the ACP and the woman did her part of the investigation," Omileye said.

“From our side, everything we have we’ve given to them and they’ve verified the information.

"Dbanj’s ex-manager, Franklin Amudo, didn’t come to the police station last Friday because of financial constraints. He couldn’t come to Abuja. I think that is the only thing delaying the investigations for now."

There are also reports that the case has been dismissed although the police have not made any statement to that effect.

After the accusation, D'banj faced further scrutiny after Babatayo revealed that she was arrested by police on the musician's order and forced to delete the social media posts with which she first revealed the accusation.

She went on to file a criminal charge against D'banj while the musician's former manager Amudo also came out to corroborate her claims.

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