By Amaka Eze Abuja,
A human rights activist group, the Coalition of Public Interests Lawyers and Advocates, COPA, has called for the arrest of Mr. Oladapo Oyebanjo, aka D’Banj, following the allegation of rape against by Miss Seyitan Tayo, NAN reports.
D.banj was accused by Miss Seyitan Tayo of sexual assault which occured in 2018, to which he had denied and demanded a N100 million defamation suit and a public apology from Miss Seyitan.
Howeverm Miss Seyitan released a press statement where she claimed to have been abducted by D’banj’s team for two days and made to renounce all her statements and rape allegations against him
This caused an outrage from Nigerians who accused D.banj that his actions were obstructing justice and made him seem guilty and this resulted in the Inspector general of Police l Mohammed Adamu, ordering an investigation into the case.
Reacting, Mr. Patrick Odey, Director, Human Rights and Gender, at COPA in a statement released on Wednesday said.
“We welcome the forthright and timely intervention of the Inspector General of Police, who has since ordered a comprehensive investigation into this matter.
“This directive is timely given the individuals involved and the peculiarity of the issues therein, as well as the ugly times we live in as a nation where incidences of rape and other gender-based crimes are rampant.
“The intervention of the IGP is satisfying and assuages risen public fear before now that the instrumentality of the Nigeria Police Force had been hijacked by the bourgeoisie class of the Nigerian polity to protect the musician.
“Speculations of manipulation and partiality in the investigative process especially given the status of the alleged offender in comparison to the victim, but the directive of the IGP is, to say the least, reassuring and highly welcomed,” he said.
“Justice must not only be done but must also be manifestly seen to be done, and for us at COPA, the manifest path of justice extends to the conduct of investigations and the treatment of the parties.
“It will be a fair play if there will be a transparent and visible investigation to ensure that a proper, dispassionate and comprehensive investigation into the allegations was conducted without considering the personality involved,” he added