In the latest update, OluTimehin Adegbeye accuses the man behind the Big Brother Naija voice of s*xual assault. Two years ago, the Nigerian writer, speaker, editor and activist had made a similar allegation stating that he had done it in the presence of other people. OluTimehin also revealed that Andre Blaze Henshaw is the voice behind the 2019 edition of Big Brother Naija.
In her recent post on Twitter, OluTimehin gives a “friendly reminder” of the alleged s*xual assault.
She wrote:
“Just a friendly reminder that all of you watching Big Brother are listening to the voice of Andre Blaze Henshaw, who s*xually assaulted me while I was incapacitated, in full view of other people, and despite the fact that another woman who saw him tried to make him stop.”
Just a friendly reminder that all of you watching Big Brother are listening to the voice of Andre Blaze Henshaw, who s*xually assaulted me while I was incapacitated, in full view of other people, and despite the fact that another woman who saw him tried to make him stop.
— OluTimehin Adegbeye🌈 (@OhTimehin) July 20, 2019
Andre Blaze Henshaw, as revealed by Wikipedia, is a Nigerian radio personality, rapper, television host and executive producer. He first garnered attention as a member of the hip-hop group, Tuck Tyght Allstars. His radio career began at Rhythm 93.7 FM Port Harcourt, where he worked for over six years before joining Nigezie as a TV host.
OluTimehin also shared an old tweet to remind people of the first time she made the s*xual assault public knowledge. This came as a follow-up to her allegations made a year ago.
The first tweet I’ve linked to in this thread was posted the day after Andre assaulted me. I posted this 👇🏿thread in June 2016: https://t.co/PiWhiKaTJG
— OluTimehin Adegbeye🌈 (@OhTimehin) May 9, 2018
Here’s what he said after she made the s*xual assault allegation a year ago, in two different tweets.
“I’m issuing a brief statement in light of the allegations made against my person. The things being said about me, those that know me can attest are not the actions of the person they know as a friend, son, brother and father.”
“I will address the matter in full using the appropriate channels. I would like to sincerely thank those who support and believe in me.”
Olutimeyin recently went on to post a thread related to her latest update. Read her Twitter thread below.
“Tell me again how survivors “speaking up” and “naming our abusers” somehow magically stops them from having the resources, social space and power to abuse other people.
“Tell me again how accusations of s*xual violence are terrible things that ‘ruin men’s lives’.
“The BBC never apologised, by the way. Nor did they seem to remember or care what they did before inviting me to speak at another one of their ‘pro-woman’ events this year. Trololololol.
“And now I’ve just remembered what happened to T-Boss *on camera*, and #welp.
“The problem isn’t that most people don’t believe survivors — even though that’s a huge problem in and of itself. The real problem is that people simply do not care.”
Olutimeyin also gave an update about receiving a personal apology from a woman who works for BBC.
“In less depressing update-style news, I did get a loving, heartfelt, personal apology from a wonderful woman who works for the BBC, and immense amounts of support from feminists and women who simply get it. So that was nice.”
The activist recalled a lawsuit complaint Mr Henshaw once made.
“Sha still wondering whether Mr Henshaw will continue his N104m lawsuit against me, since he somehow never showed up in court despite being the complainant.”
“Would also love a chat w/his then-girlfriend, who joined in the assault, tearfully apologised to me in person weeks later, then somehow ended up listed as a ‘witness’ in Henshaw’s defence in a suit that ticked every ridiculous slut-shaming box in the history of knee-jerk male abuser responses. That’s probably a lost cause sha.”
“Sha still wondering whether Mr Henshaw will continue his N104m lawsuit against me, since he somehow never showed up in court despite being the complainant.”
Would also love a chat w/his then-girlfriend, who joined in the assault, tearfully apologised to me in person weeks later,
— OluTimehin Adegbeye🌈 (@OhTimehin) July 20, 2019
Olutimeyin then brought up the COZA issue as a case of reference.
“I mean, y’all still go to COZA, izinit? And I get it. If we stopped supporting abusers in Nigeria: wife-and-partner beaters, rapists, emotionally abusive philanderers, s*xual predators, creepy relatives, child molesters etc, who go remain? Lmao. I get it, y’all. Isscoo. ✌️🏿”
“When everybody–from your pastors to your family members to your teachers to your neighbours to God knows who else–has the social space to be an abuser, and there’s almost no way to know for sure who *isn’t* exploiting that space, what can you do? I get it.”
On whether people believe her or not, she shares her opinion.
“If this news is reaching you for the first time, please be reminded that it is news *to you*. I’ve been talking about this for years. I don’t care if you believe me or not. I’m just reminding you that some of us know the truth: y’all don’t care about s*xual violence or survivors.”
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