11-26-2017, 11:58 AM
Sexual harassment allegation, cheap blackmail from total stranger’ – Yomi Fabiyi
Last month, the global entertainment industry was shaken by allegations of sexual harassment that were levelled against top shot Hollywood producer, Harvey Weinstein, by several women. The women claimed that Weinstein had, on different occasions over the years, forced them to have sex with him in exchange for movie roles and other favours.
The allegations triggered a chain reaction, and Weinstein was booted out of the company he founded and a lot of people dissociated themselves from him. Since that episode, many other entertainers have continued to call out several personalities that harassed them sexually.
It seems the trend has caught on in Nigeria, and recently, an up-and-coming actress, Eniola Omoshalewa Eunice, claimed that actor and producer, Yomi Fabiyi, had sometime ago, demanded sex from her before she could be featured in his production. Fabiyi denied the allegation and subsequently reported the matter to the police, offering to pay N20,000 to anyone with information on Eunice’s whereabouts.
However, the actress also tabled her case with the Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. The ministry subsequently invited Fabiyi to its office but the actor refused to honour the invitation.
In a chat with Sunday Scoop, he gave his reasons for not honouring the invitation.
He stated,
“It is simple for anybody to know the direction that will go. I instituted a petition against her, which is before the Commissioner of Police, and because I made the move known, she ran to the ministry with an allegation of threat to her life, owing to the fact that I promised a N20,000 bounty for whoever could supply her address, as the only thing I know about her is her Instagram handle.
How would I describe her location to aid the police’s investigation? How will my lawyer serve her if I file a suit against her? I know clearly that the ministry will want to mediate and possibly make peace between us, and at the end of the day, my reputation would still be dented by such an allegation.
“I was also on set when the invitation came and I felt the mediation was too early. It is not because I am stubborn or don’t like peace, the only place I can have it on record that I don’t know her is at the police station. The ministry would want to be indifferent. And if she had gone to them before she went public, I would have gone to the office to clear my name; but not now that the matter is already before the police.
“I have no reason to run as I only asked for the meeting to be rescheduled. For the records, I was not invited based on her allegation of sexual harassment, but because I placed a bounty on her which purportedly puts her life at risk. I think she has been getting quack legal advice. I didn’t call, visit, text or contact her in anyway. I am too refined for such.”
Fabiyi added,
“I recently released a movie, Agbede Meji, and it has been trending with 150,000 views in one week. The reviews have also been overwhelming, and some people are of the opinion that I should take the movie to cinemas. However, some bad people just want to drop me off that ladder for nothing.
I am always working hard, and I believe that when it is the right time, my advancement will come. I’m still in shock because career wise, I should be attending to something more lucrative than this cheap blackmail from a total stranger.”
![[Image: screenshot-punchng.com-2017-11-26-07-12-02-556.png]](https://www.lailasblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/screenshot-punchng.com-2017-11-26-07-12-02-556.png)
https://www.lailasblog.com/sexual-harass...mi-fabiyi/
Last month, the global entertainment industry was shaken by allegations of sexual harassment that were levelled against top shot Hollywood producer, Harvey Weinstein, by several women. The women claimed that Weinstein had, on different occasions over the years, forced them to have sex with him in exchange for movie roles and other favours.
The allegations triggered a chain reaction, and Weinstein was booted out of the company he founded and a lot of people dissociated themselves from him. Since that episode, many other entertainers have continued to call out several personalities that harassed them sexually.
It seems the trend has caught on in Nigeria, and recently, an up-and-coming actress, Eniola Omoshalewa Eunice, claimed that actor and producer, Yomi Fabiyi, had sometime ago, demanded sex from her before she could be featured in his production. Fabiyi denied the allegation and subsequently reported the matter to the police, offering to pay N20,000 to anyone with information on Eunice’s whereabouts.
However, the actress also tabled her case with the Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. The ministry subsequently invited Fabiyi to its office but the actor refused to honour the invitation.
In a chat with Sunday Scoop, he gave his reasons for not honouring the invitation.
He stated,
“It is simple for anybody to know the direction that will go. I instituted a petition against her, which is before the Commissioner of Police, and because I made the move known, she ran to the ministry with an allegation of threat to her life, owing to the fact that I promised a N20,000 bounty for whoever could supply her address, as the only thing I know about her is her Instagram handle.
How would I describe her location to aid the police’s investigation? How will my lawyer serve her if I file a suit against her? I know clearly that the ministry will want to mediate and possibly make peace between us, and at the end of the day, my reputation would still be dented by such an allegation.
“I was also on set when the invitation came and I felt the mediation was too early. It is not because I am stubborn or don’t like peace, the only place I can have it on record that I don’t know her is at the police station. The ministry would want to be indifferent. And if she had gone to them before she went public, I would have gone to the office to clear my name; but not now that the matter is already before the police.
“I have no reason to run as I only asked for the meeting to be rescheduled. For the records, I was not invited based on her allegation of sexual harassment, but because I placed a bounty on her which purportedly puts her life at risk. I think she has been getting quack legal advice. I didn’t call, visit, text or contact her in anyway. I am too refined for such.”
Fabiyi added,
“I recently released a movie, Agbede Meji, and it has been trending with 150,000 views in one week. The reviews have also been overwhelming, and some people are of the opinion that I should take the movie to cinemas. However, some bad people just want to drop me off that ladder for nothing.
I am always working hard, and I believe that when it is the right time, my advancement will come. I’m still in shock because career wise, I should be attending to something more lucrative than this cheap blackmail from a total stranger.”
https://www.lailasblog.com/sexual-harass...mi-fabiyi/