A taxi driver, Femi Ajibola has reported fast rising pop singer, Davido to the Police for allegedly assaulting him and seizing his car. According to his report as contained in the Crime Digest column of PUNCH newspaper, the incident occurred on Sunday July 1, 2012 at about 5:30pm after he had received a phone call from Susie, one of his customers to come convey her and her friends to Beni Apartments, V.I.
‘The lady introduced her as Susie. She called me to come and pick her and her friend. They told me to come pick them up at Mobolaji Estate near Lekki Second Roundabout. Later, I took them to a hotel at Lekki Phase I to meet one of their friends. From there we left for Beni Apartment in Victoria Island’.
He continued his story adding that while waiting for the ladies at the gate of the hotel, he saw his clients running towards his car, being chased by Davido and four of his bouncers an in a bid to save the girls, he opened the door for them and turned on the car’s engine only to be stopped by Davido who hit his face and accused him of being the boyfriend to the girl.
“The girl was running towards me. I think the men had assaulted her. She said I should open the door for her so that she would enter. I opened the door for her; as she was about to enter the car, Davido caught up with her and slapped her face… He left the girl and faced me. He said I was the one that brought the girls, that I am their boyfriend. He knocked my face against the steering wheel of the cab. This made blood begin to come out from my ear drums. He seized my car keys and in the process, injured me...Before I knew what was going on, his four bouncers began to beat me up. They beat me severely and took my car keys from me and chased me away. This happened around 11 pm. I went to report the matter at the Bar Beach Police Station, which was the nearest one. I was asked to come back the next morning to report the case.’
He further alleged that he realised that his N100, 000, a sum he was meant to deliver to his dealer, was stolen from the car after it was returned to him. According to him, he was not allowed to wind up his windows or take anything from the car before he was ordered by the bouncers to leave the car.
‘I had taken delivery of the vehicle about two weeks before the incident. I had paid my dealer N50,000 and the other N100,000 was in the car because I could not pay it in the bank. The money was in the car and since they had sent me away from the car, I could not retrieve it. The following day, I did not find the money in the cab. They did not even let me wind the car windows up before they chased me out. I noticed that the car was ransacked. I managed to obtain Davido’s phone number and called him. But he did not pick his call. So I sent him a text message. Thirty minutes after I sent him the message, someone picked up the call and promised to pass the message to him. I did not get my car key throughout that day. I went to the police station to file a report’ Ajibola said.
After trying to reach the singer without success, he along with some Policemen went to the girl, Sussie’s place who declined their demand for help claiming she wasn’t the one that assaulted or seized his car.
‘On the fourth day, I went to Susie’s house with the police. The ladies said they were not the ones that beat me. They said the only help they could render was to give me Davido’s address and that they had since settled their differences. The whole point of the police visit was to use the girls to get to Davido, but the girls made a phone call to an aunt of theirs and the policemen left them, saying that they were not the ones that assaulted me’ the cab driver said
A call was placed through to the singer, but upon picking it he fumed and boasted asking if the policeman knew who his father was. In the words of Ajibola, He warned the policemen not to threaten or intimidate him’.
Ajibola continued with his story, ‘One day, the DPO of the station assured me that they would make sure they get him. He was irritated by Davido’s boasting that he was immune to arrest. On July 13, one Sharon Adeleke asked me to come and collect the key of my car at 1004. I told her to come and meet me at the police station. She did not turn up till the DPO intervened. The DPO invited the Sharon Adeleke, she eventually came to drop the key of the car. I told them that I could not just collect the key of the car without documentation that they gave me the key of the car without a penny, though I lost money and my car got damaged. When I said this, the DPO told me that I did not look like someone that was worth N100,000. He said I have no proof that there was money in the car and that all he was after was to retrieve my car keys for me. He said that if I wanted to do anything I should go to court and he ordered me out of his office. Till this moment I have not received my car keys or an apology from the singer.’
However, Davido’s publicist, Valerie Obaze in her response to PUNCH, denied Davido’s involvement in the incident, ‘Davido has no knowledge of any incident involving the assault of a taxi driver or the illegal seizure of his car. He does not condone violence of any sort and will not be commenting on this untrue allegation’, she told PUNCH via email.
As at the time of this publication, calls, messages and mails sent to Davido’s manager, Asa Asika and publicist, Valerie Obaze to confirm the story, have neither been acknowledged nor responded to.
News credit: Punch
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