A business woman, Mrs. Olajoke Adesipe, has accused popular musician,
Onyeka Onwenu, of assault.
Adesipe, who had petitioned the National Human Rights Commission, also
said she was forcefully evicted from her shop at the National Centre for Women
Development, Abuja on the order of Onyeka, who is the Director-General of the
centre.
Adesipe, in the letter dated March 3, 2014, claimed that Onwenu directed
security officers to throw her wares out of her shop, adding that she was
assaulted when she took the pictures of the incident, on the instruction of the
DG.
The business woman, who sells textiles, said she was a yearly tenant,
adding that her current tenancy would not end until December, 2014.
The petition reads in part, “On January 21, 2014, I heard that the DG
might likely eject me even when my rent is still valid.”
Adesipe said she got a letter to vacate the premises within three days
on January 28,2014, adding that another letter was served on her on February 4,
in which the centre threatened to go to court.
She explained that she wrote a letter to Onwenu on February 6, and sent
her a text message three days later seeking an audience. She said the DG gave
her an appointment for the following day.
Adesipe said she met other members of the management team at Onwenu’s
office and she narrated her story.
She said the musician apologised and said that a formal apology letter
would be written by the centre to her.
She added that Onwenu said she should vacate the shop and promised that
she would be relocated to the shopping complex within the premises.
Adesipe said she insisted that she would vacate the shop on the
condition that she would be given an allocation letter.
“On February 13, I got a call from Onwenu asking why I had not moved out
of the shop and I told her that nobody had given me an allocation letter for
the new shop as she promised.
“She said if I failed to move out by February 14, she would send for the
State Security Service to chase me out.
“On February 14, I was at the centre early. I heard that Onwenu, in
company with her security personnel, had forced my shop open. I ran there and
saw her supervising the forceful ejection without any prior court or police
order,” Adesipe stated in the petition.
She explained that she took pictures of the scene with her phone and
Onwenu directed that her phone be confiscated. She said in the struggle for the
phone, she was beaten and dragged on the ground, while her cloth and bags were
torn.
The Legal Adviser, Women centre, Mohammed Suleiman, however, explained
that Adesipe was not a legal tenant of the centre.
He explained that she occupied a part of the auditorium, which she was
not legally allocated though she paid N100,000 to the management of the hotel
in charge of the hall.
Suleiman said the centre asked Adesipe to relocate to another shop
because President Goodluck Jonathan was visiting on February 14.
He said, “She was allocated shop 0.11 at the Oyibo Odinamadu Mall, but
she complained that she would prefer a shop on the ground floor.
“The DG directed that she be given a shop downstairs and she was given
shop 0.10. She also declined to take the keys.
“It was apparent that she wanted to create a scene during the
Presidential visit. The security directed that her ware be removed and the
instruction was effected.”