“Where is Seyitan?” is the question everyone is currently asking on social media.
In the past few weeks, cases of gender-based violence and rape have been on the rise in the news: Justice For Uwa, Tina and Barakat. This has encouraged more Nigerian women to tell their stories of sexual assault and name abusers online and offline.
There have been accusations against celebrities and other notable individuals, including Brymo, Peruzzi, Bollylomo, Kendall Ananyi and D’banj, who allegedly raped Seyitan in December 2018.
Who is Seyitan?
A survivor of rape — one of many Nigerian women. On the 3rd of June, 2020, Seyitan shared details of being raped by D’banj on Twitter. This came after a Nigerian model scout, Benjamin Ese, alleged that Dbanj raped his friend on December 31, 2018, at Glee hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos. At the time Benjamin Ese posted this on Instagram, he didn’t disclose his friend’s identity. The friend in question is Seyitan.
A few days later, Seyitan followed this with a letter from her lawyers to the Dbanj. In the letter, Seyitan demanded an apology from D’banj.
What did D’banj say?
At first, nothing. However, on the 16th of June, he posted a statement on Instagram from his lawyers to Seyitan in which he:
- Denied the allegations.
- Called Seyitan a gold digger.
- Alleged that Seyitan had defamed him.
- Demanded a public apology.
- Demanded N100 million in damages.
The statement has been deleted from his Instagram page. You can read it here:
What happened next?
On June 17, just a day after Dbanj released his statement, Seyitan cleared all her tweets and released this statement:
Around the time this statement was released, journalists and human rights’ activists informed the public that Seyitan had been arrested and began to raise money for her bail. This revelation made people suspicious about Seyitan’s tweet.
Was she released?
According to investigative journalist, Kiki Mordi, Seyitan was released around 7pm yesterday.
Upon her release, she denied being arrested — a tweet most people suspect was made under duress or intimidation. There were also suspicions that she had been hacked.
Where is she now?
No one knows for sure. People who have been in contact with her have reason to suspect that she is being detained by D’banj’s manager.
Her suspicious tweets from this morning lend credence to this line of thought:
Nigerians are now asking for her whereabouts and calling on the Nigerian police force to act responsibly.
You can donate to the fund that was set up to assist her with legal fees. We hope that she is found safe as soon as possible, and that the police and other government officials act fast.
And if you want to find more information on how to support rape survivors and the families of victims, you can do that here.
An Update
As of 1:55pm, we’re happy to announce that Seyitan has been released. See details below:
