…she’s lying, says skit producer
Juliana Francis
IGP, Usman Baba
Mr. Chris Joseph, the father of Kelechi, said that
he wanted police to investigate the alleged attempted rape of his daughter by
the duo of Gabriel and Akora.
It will be recalled that Kelechi had accused Gabriel,
a skit producer and his cronies, of luring her to Westwood Hotel located at
Badore, Lekki/Ajah area of Lagos State, under the guise of auditioning for a
comedian skit, and then attempted to rape her. She literally had to pay her way
out of their clutches and then fled from the hotel.
Kelechi had also accused police personnel at Ipaja
Police Station of demanding N100, 000 bail, tagging her prostitute, detaining
her for four days, thus infringing on her fundamental human rights.
The police were also alleged of forcing her to sweep
and mop the station for four days, and then mandating her to pay Gabriel
N1million for the laptops and camera taken by naval cadets Kelechi brought to
his home.
Our reporter on Tuesday, August 31, attempted to
speak with Gabriel, to hear his side of the story, but he didn’t pick his
calls. However, after an SMS and WhatsApp messages were sent to his phone, he
called the following day. He maintained that Kelechi and he had been dating
since last year, but troubled hit their paradise after he refused to accept her
as a live-in lover and also kicked her out of his skit production.
He denied bribing police, stressing he had no such
money to throw around. According to him, Kelechi was spreading lies to get back
at him for not using her in his skit and to tarnish his reputation.
The Divisional of Police Officer (DPO), in charge of
Ipaja Police Station, said that the case was armed robbery and had thus decided
to charge Kelechi to court. This sort of statement was what irritated Chris.
Chris said: “My anger with the whole thing was that
the police refused to mention or investigate the fact that my daughter was
almost raped and assaulted. I want justice to be done. She
was badly beaten and she had marks on her body. She told me that the police
forced her to sweep and mop the police station and other offices. I see that
action as being wrong. I felt they did it to humiliate and maltreat her.”
Chris said that he wanted justice, not just for his
daughter, but to stop men who were in the habit of luring unsuspecting and
desperate girls into hotels, in the name of auditions for movies, skits and
modeling to rape them.
Chris said that his daughter was beaten black and
blue and that she has marks on her body to show for it. Chris said he was
pained that Kelechi didn’t confide in him after the incident, before contacting
her former classmate, who had just been recruited into navy to handle the issue
of Gabriel and friend allegedly threatening her life.
Chris, who said he got to know about the attempted
rape only after Kelechi had been arrested and detained. He alleged that the
police asked his wife to pay N100, 000 as bail for Kelechi and that his
sister-in-law was labeled a prostitute by the police.
He explained that he had to reach out to the
Advocates for Children and Vulnerable Persons Network (ACVPN) because he
desperately wanted the attempted rape issue to be addressed. Ironically, it was
alleged that a police personnel attached to Ipaja Police Station, directed him
to the ACVPN.
He further narrated: “On the day they arrested my
daughter and took her to the station, the police asked her to pay some money,
so that they could swing the case to her favour. When she told them that she
didn’t have that kind of money, they detained her. The DPO called my
sister-in-law a prostitute and my wife confirmed her sister was called a prostitute.
Gabriel and his friends threatened to deal with my daughter if she told anyone
about the attempted rape. My wife received strange calls from different phone
numbers and whenever she picks, they would warn her to be careful.”
Chris said that the cadets, who carted away items
from Gabriel’s apartment, on the alleged request of Kelechi, had returned two
laptops, remaining a camera.
Narrating his story, Gabriel said: “Kelechi and I used
to date, but there was a time she came to my house and said she wanted to live
with me. She said her mom was always collecting her monthly salary from her and
she didn’t like that. I told her it was not possible because my brothers were staying
with me. She left in anger. She called one day that I had not been using her
for my skit productions; she wanted to come to location. She asked for transport
fare and I sent her N5000 through her Paga account. She came late for the
shoot, so I asked her to return the following day because it was late, and she
said she couldn’t. She said she had somewhere to go. I asked for a refund of
the transport fare and she refunded it.”
He recalled that on April 7, 2021, a boy and girl
came to join in his skit production and were arrested by Operatives of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He said that the EFCC
operatives took him along because he was with the suspects.
“The name of the girl is Black Truly and the boy is
Victory. I met them through my Instagram account. We wrote statements at the
EFCC office, and I was released because I was not indicted. The other suspects
are still in the EFCC custody,” said Gabriel.
Recollecting how he met Kelechi, Gabriel explained
that he met her in October 2020, through her boss, called Mr. Segun, operating
a spa. They dated for five months before they fell apart.
He said: “It was my brothers that told me that
Kelechi came with men in military uniforms to cart away my camera, two laptops
and some money. Kelechi knew where I used to keep money. Whenever she comes to
visit, I would go there to collect money to give her. I even called, to ask why
she carried out such actions, but she didn’t pick my call. When I called her
office, they said she no longer works there. I then went to the station to
report.”
He said that all attempts to get Kelechi to respond
to police invitation were futile. Police had to set a trap, posing as online
buyers of her products before she was caught and arrested.
Gabriel further alleged: “She got angry with me for
three reasons; one was because she wanted to move in with me and I refused.
Secondly, I refused to feature her in my skit because she came late, and
thirdly because I told I was no longer in the relationship and we had to break
up. When she was initially arrested, her parents begged me not to allow the
matter to be taken to court, and I accepted. My only condition was that Kelechi
should return my items. The following week, she went to State Criminal
Intelligence and Investigations Department (SCIID, Panti, Yaba, to claim that I
attempted to rape her, which I didn’t. She later went to post online that I
raped her even after we signed an agreement not to post anything online till
the case was over. All I’m asking is that my items should be returned.”
He said that since the matter started, he had not
been able to shoot any skit. He stated that the whole matter was affecting his
job.
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