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While the rest of the world continues to await the outcome of the charges reportedly filed by Shella B, the Nigerian woman who accused popular singer, Enetimi Odom, aka Timaya, of rape in the United States, there is an indication that she is under pressure from some quarters to pursue the matter to a conclusive end
Two weeks ago, one Sunshinecandyrain posted a message on Instagram, in which she commended the aggrieved Stella B for exposing Timaya. Although she did not claim to have been sexually violated by the singer, she called him unprintable names and added, “Someone I know had a baby for him and then had to abort it because he denied the baby. If he raped you, you should go and file charges. You should also go get checked for any STDs.”
One of other woman posted another message on Instagram on the accuser’s page, pledging her support in her declared war against Timaya. Writing as Destinyify, the woman said, “Rape is not a joke. I don’t care who it is, but guess what? You have my full support. Don’t let anybody disrespect you for any reason. Not because of money or power. Nigeria is not like the United States. Here, issues are treated with levity. Nobody is saying anything because this is a popular figure.”
Evidence that the issue is still burning lies in another statement posted by Shella B on Instagram three days ago. In the statement, she announced that she had decided to obey her lawyer’s instruction not to comment on her encounter with the singer any more.
She said, “Please, I can no longer talk, comment or discuss this ongoing case. My lawyer told me not to give any interviews or verbal statement to anyone. Media blogs, please stop asking me for my side of the story. Friends and family that follow me, please don’t ask me about it. Thank you for your understanding.”
Meanwhile, Timaya arrived in Nigeria last weekend after completing his playing tour of the US. Apparently not willing to attract undue attention to himself, when our correspondent made moves to interview him between last Saturday and Wednesday, his response to the request implied that his encounter with Shella B still weighed heavily on his mind and he was not willing to comment on it yet.
Timaya is not the first Nigerian entertainer to be accused of rape in recent time; it would be recalled that about eight years ago, another popular singer, Chinagorom Onuoha, aka African China, found himself in a similarly distressing situation in London when a young woman called the police and told them he forced her close friend – a white Briton – to have sex with him.
African China managed to wriggle out of the mess – helped by the result of a DNA test conducted on him and the alleged victim, as well as a confession from the girl herself – and was eventually freed by the police.
Also, Fuji star, Abass Akande, aka Obesere, was accused of raping a 29-year-old business woman known as Nike Olaiya sometime last year. Telling his own side of the story, in an interview with an online magazine, the singer, who was subsequently arrested by the police, said the allegation was a set-up masterminded by his enemies.
Also, recounting what transpired between him and his accuser, he had said, “She visited me at home at night and it was too late for her to return to her place. I won’t lie about the fact that we had an intimate encounter. But I did not rape her. And it was about four or five days after she visited me that she went to the police to allege that I raped her.
“I went to the police station but when when I realised that the officers there were favouring her as a complainant, I requested them to transfer the case to the State Criminal InvestigationDepartment, SCID, Panti, Yaba. There, they asked her for evidence that she was raped. There was no injury on her. Her clothes were intact.
“When she couldn’t produce evidence, the police advised her not to attempt to blackmail me. They advised her to gently approach me and ask for help if she wanted anything. When she first called me to say she was feeling sick, I called the woman who introduced her to me to take her to hospital. But Alhaja said nothing was wrong with her, that she was only trying to extort me. Alhaja said she planned to blackmail me into parting with between N5m and N10m.”
Although the singer, like African China, was finally absolved of the charge, the experience had left an emotional scar that appears to have affected his career. The same applies to African China whose career also seems to have been significantly altered by the London rape saga.
Aware that Obesere and African China are no longer as visible as they used to be on the entertainment scene after they were publicly accused of rape, most of Timaya’s fans sill simply not want a similar fate to befall the singer.
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