Rape: Theo Ukpaa responds to rape allegation in a statement

Linda Ikeji's former head of programmes was accused by Emilia Samuel on August 25, 2018

On August 30, Pulse reported that media entrepreneur, Linda Ikeji released a statement, confirming her dismissal of her head of programmes, Theo Ukpaa after Emilia Samuel accused him of raping her as a 16-year-old.

The Allegation

 

Samuel made a 5-page public rape accusation against Ukpaa on August 25, 2018 via her Instagram account (@amiliafairlady) after seeing pictures of his wedding online. This led to his dismissal by Linda Ikeji who was also caught in the cross-hairs.

Samuel had directly mentioned her in the accusation, making reference to her revered status as a feminist and voice for modern women.

ALSO READ: Lawyer identifies four causes of rape

Theo's Response and Defence

While Ukpaa was initially silent on the matter, to focus on his marriage and enjoy his honeymoon, he has responded to the rape allegation against him, directly offering a defence to Samuel’s allegation a-chunk-at-a-time.

On Friday September 7, 2018, Pulse obtained a written statement by Theo Ukpaa titled, “I am Not a Rapist: Emilia Samuel’s Rape Allegation Is False,” with a "FullStory" hashtag, and the statement reads;

“Hello Everyone,

So much has been said about me in the past week — including accusations of rape and sexual molestation. I would have come out to speak up since but I was advised to first save my marriage, as I was just a few days into the marriage and still on honeymoon when the news about the allegations broke on social media. It is sad that we now live in a world where a complicated negative story put on social media can attract so much hatred and is enough to pull a career of over 12 years into the trash. People have called me all sorts of names and so many actions have been taken without even trying to investigate if the story was true or not… talk about JUNGLE JUSTICE.

I stand strongly against RAPE and condemn any such act.

Dear Nigerians, I have been framed and painted as a monster, but that is not who I am. I spent the earlier part of my young life volunteering for Little Saints Orphanage. My friend, Kolade Stephen and I will mentor the children, teach them how to sing, dance and act. The convener trusted us with the children and today they are grown and some are even married. They can testify about my good deeds and how I never harassed anyone.

Let me also clearly state here that I don’t have any issues with my former MD and how she dismissed me from work. Linda Ikeji is one of the most wonderful persons I have ever met on the face of the earth. It was best that both parties part ways as this accuser was determined to attack my means of livelihood and deliberately dragged an innocent woman into this mess. Ms. Linda has a strong passion and great drive to achieve her dreams, an unstoppable force.

Back track to when I met Emilia Samuel in 2008. She had come for the Spice Girls show at SpiceTV and didn’t win. After the show she waited behind and asked me to drop her anywhere on the mainland. I told her my car was already full. So I gave Emilia some money and she asked for my number which I wrote on a piece of paper for her and she left. There was no telling that she was fond of me. Emilia didn’t have a phone at the time but she would flash me with her mum’s number and when I called back she would say “please tell my mum I have a job so I can leave this house”. At this point we were already friends.

There was never an event of Rape, forced breaking hotel doors or a Brenda in the room or a Sisi Oge in Ijebu or cleaning of blood in the office. These are all false allegations as you will see below.

Let me carefully break down her story one paragraph at a time:

Samuel’s statement: “Ok it started when i went for Spice girl competition organised by Soundcity, i was among the girls picked and i made it to top 3, the winner got 30k then I and Kaka(Can’t remember her surname)our own prize was to get trained by them on catwalk and poses twice in a week at their office in Lekki”

Ukpaa’s defence: "For the Spice girl show, there was nothing like prize of getting trained on catwalk twice a week at any Lekki office. It was never in the package. My colleague back then, Deji Adeniji is the Chanel Manager for SpiceTV today and he can attest to this. Let me state that there was no training for anybody as she has claimed."

Samuel’s statement: “It Happened on the supposed starting day i got there and did not see Kaka, Theo said she called that she had relocated to portharcourt so they will arrange for her training over there, i called Kaka and she said it was true so i felt okay and went for the next training. Theo kept making passes at me but i told him i was not interested all i wanted was to work on being a model”

Ukpaa’s defence: "Again, another lie. Luckily the Kaka she mentioned who was in the Spice Girls show is still in touch and she has denied knowledge of any training after the show, never left for Port Harcourt and never got a call from Emilia concerning being at any training. If Emilia didn’t have a phone as she claimed, how did she put a call through to Kaka immediately to confirm training… too many lies. Kaka is available to confirm this and my colleagues at the time will also confirm that this never took place at the office."

Samuel’s statement: “It was on the third training. He said they were making use of the studio we normally use, so we are to use another. There were people working there, so there was nothing to be worried about. We went to the new studio and started the same routine. Then he came and [grabbed] me. I told him to stop, [I’m] not like that. Next thing I knew, he had thrown me to the floor and overpowered me. All I could remember was the pain and the blood; it was everywhere. I kept shouting and shouting and screaming, but no one came. It was years later I realised that the door was soundproof cos is a studio. I never knew till I started working as a presenter. I was just 16 and naive; never had any exposure. That Spice Girl [competition] was the first time I was allowed out of the house. I did not even have a phone by then. All messages and calls were through my mum phone”

Ukpaa’s defence: “First of all, going from downstairs in the office building to any other part of the building cannot be hidden based on the floor plan of the Soundcity building in Lekki. The recording studio was shared by Soundcity, Spice TV, Village Square (now Trybe). It was not possible for anyone to have the studio to themselves without approval from the supervising producer and cameramen attached to the person. So having any studio to myself was impossible talk less of attempting to rape someone and then clean blood. The studio was a very busy place that had a 24-hour shooting schedule because of the four different channels that shared it.

“Second, the other studio is where the cameramen and PA’s usually stay to rest while waiting for the next shoot, so to take her there I must have asked all the cameramen to leave the studio so I could go in with a girl to have sex… very unrealistic if you ask anybody that has worked there at the time or now. The events described in Emilia’s story could possibly last three hours, how is this possible in a very busy work environment as it was and no one noticed blood or shouting.. It is not about been soundproofed, it is entirely impossible. Emilia’s story is entirely falsified."

Samuel’s statement: “He then came and was begging that he thought I was like other girls when I told him I was 16; that he thought it was just modelling age and [that] he [couldn’t] believe there could be a virgin anymore. I caught a cold that day and fell sick. He kept turning me around and was cleaning the blood but I was more like a dead body. [I] did not care anymore what he was doing. He got me dressed and held me at my back, leading the way out and making sure no one spoke to me. He put me in a bus home and when I got home”

ALSO READ: Can victim relocation program work in Nigeria

Ukpaa’s defence: “For me to make sure no one spoke to her, this means there must have been people in the studio or around then that would testify in favour of her statement — that they saw me carry a woman out of the studio into a bus or observed distress on her face, or anything out of the ordinary.

The way the Soundcity studio is positioned, you will need to pass through so many open offices before you get to the studio upstairs. And for someone that said she fell sick and felt like a dead body, before you can carry her out stained with blood out of a studio, at least 15 people will see the girl and the stains and alarms will be raised. This is not rocket science."

Samuel’s statement: “I was too broken to make any statement. All I could say was bye and went into my room and that was the end of me going for the training. But he kept calling my mum that there were jobs for me which she thought I went to, but never knew I used those times to go sort for ushering jobs, which I got I was able to get a phone from. Then one day, I got a call from him. I was so scared, but he begged me, [saying] he was sorry and wanted to see me face to face to apologise”

Ukpaa’s defence: “So at this point she said she has cut me off and has been lying to her mum to go for ushering jobs; if she got a new phone and got a new number and had cut me off, how did I get her new number? Did she call me with the new phone after cutting me off. These are all questions that need answers."

Samuel’s statement: “I agreed to meet with him in an open place, but then again I didn’t know anywhere. I was 17 then. We agreed to meet at Ikeja cos I had a casting there. Him knowing I was still naive told me of an eatery which I never knew was closed. I got there after my casting and discovered the Mr Biggs was closed. Turning to leave I saw him at my back. He said so I just wanted to leave like that, that he also did not know the restaurant is closed”

Ukpaa’s traverse: “She said she has been going out on her own for ushering jobs but suddenly doesn’t know anywhere. Then a certain Mr Biggs closes in broad day light or maybe I asked them to close up so I can take Emilia home. Maybe I was that rich to close down a whole eatery. Let me state that I never requested that we meet at any eatery in Ikeja."

Samuel’s statement: “[He said we should] go to another down the road. Either I was just as a fool then or I was still very naive at 17 or I just don’t know. I followed him into his car still believing we were heading to a restaurant to talk things over but no. Theo managed to fool me into his house, pushed me in as soon as I entered and raped me once more, then started crying and begging [that] it was a mistake that he can’t get enough of me. He gave me an infection from day one and kept adding to it and I never knew I was suffering from STD. There was no one close enough to tell me that and he was too wicked to even treat me. He just left me like that with it till many years later before I found out and got myself treated.”

Ukpaa’s defence: “There is no way I could have taken her home because I was staying with my uncle in Ikeja and wasn’t allowed to bring females home. First of all it was impossible to enter the house I lived in then without a security man opening the gate and my uncle had an office in the same building, so the possibility of dragging her out of a car and dragging her into a house and a room to rape her is highly preposterous. Let me state that I never took Emilia to my house."

Samuel’s statement: “Thank god it did not damage my womb, neither did I get pregnant, cos I did not even know anything about getting pregnant. I was too naive and stupid. He said he wanted a relationship and that I am God-sent to him. He kept bugging my phone with calls and messages until the day I fell and did a job for him because I knew the lady he wanted me to work for and he also sent me the number of the girl who I was to work with — Sisi Oge in Ijebu Ode.”

Ukpaa’s defence: “So after multiple rapes, tricking you to meet at the (closed up) restaurant then forcing you into my house to rape you; I still manage to ask you to come to travel to another state with me and you come with me? I will leave this part to the readers to analyse.

"Let me categorically state here that no Sisi Oge show ever happened in Ijebu Ode, the organiser of the Sisi Oge show, Idris Aregbe can attest to the facet that — Sisi Oge has always been a Lagos Event."

Samuel’s statement: “I really thought he had changed like he claimed all went well. I and Breda were sharing the same room. Then the camera men had theirs, he had his own. The popular TV presenter of Soundcity was there so I felt at home till the night before the day we were to leave. Theo came to our door and was calling my name. I refused going as my mind starting recalling that he might want to do the same. It was 2am. Brenda saw how scared I was and asked me what the issue was. I told her I am scared of him, that he might hurt me. She was quick to understand so she said don’t worry he won’t harm you when I am here, He kept calling out my name then started banging the door. “

Ukpaa’s defence: “So 2am (quiet time) at a hotel and no one heard my voice shouting your name. The hotel staffers must have been deep in sleep to not have heard me banging the door, my cameramen, PA and so called Soundcity presenter too must have been dead or deaf not to hear. Emilia will need to present the BRENDA in question and the Soundcity presenter that were present at this hotel, since they are key witnesses to her story. Whatever Brenda she presents will be verified by SPICETV HR as former staff of the company to avoid fake witnesses. Plus the name of the hotel in Ijebu so we verify broken down doors from the time of incidence. This should be available as evidence."

Samuel’s statement: “Next thing, he broke down the door and came to the bed where I and Brenda was, and dragged me out to his room. He locked the door beat me up then raped me, all the while saying no one can do anything; that he is their boss and he is paying them, and that no one can ever have me in this world till he is done with me”

Ukpaa’s defence: “So first I break down a Hotel door and no one shows up then a fellow girl like you, BRENDA, could not go and call for help (she must be a monster herself) after the door is broken and I forcibly drag you. And as for the Soundcity presenter and cameramen, they must be devil reincarnates to hear you screaming and just stay quiet in their room. I maintain that Brenda, the camera men and the presenter will need to attest to Emilia’s claim here because I am certain that these events never happened."

Samuel’s statement: “To cut the story short, we got back to Lagos and he started blackmailing me that he had my nudes and that he will publish it. They were actually bikini pictures I took, which then I felt were not decent coming from the home I come from, but cos he showed me [photographs of others like me who he said I had to copy] if I was to make it in the modelling industry, I went ahead and took those bikini pictures, seeing all as training I am suppose to do if I am to be a model. He said if I don’t keep seeing him, he will make them public and that was how I continued to get raped until he travelled abroad and forgot about me”

Ukpaa’s defence: “It is shameful that she saw my wedding pictures and remembered I promised her marriage years back. This also shows that she is not happy with her marriage because no happily married woman grows bitter and envious over an old friend’s wedding pictures. Clearly, her post was not intended to send warnings to young girls, it was intended to end a 12 year career, destroy a fresh marriage in a heartbeat and generate publicity for herself.”

Summation

“I am not perfect and I am a man with many flaws just like everyone reading this. I am happily married and have a family to look after. I appeal to every one of my aggrieved exes to know that I am sorry if I hurt them. I have been a player in the past and have broken many hearts but I am different now and every day I pray for God to make me a better person, a better leader and a better husband to my wife.

I am STRONGLY against Rape.

I have female presenters I worked with at Spice TV. They can all testify that I never sexually harassed them in all my time as producer at Soundcity/Spice TV.

I don’t believe in using my job or position to get a girl in bed, I believe it is wrong and should not be encouraged. I am a good man. I love God with all my heart, working in God’s vineyard and giving all my life to servicing him. I deserve Justice, this battle is not my battle, It is God’s battle. I have helped over 200 people gain employment at the different stages of my career without asking for anything in return.

Let me also add that over the years, I have worked on so many pageants and reality shows involving hundreds and thousands of young women and anyone can confirm from the organisers that there has never, and I repeat NEVER, been a case of sexual assault.

Again I am not perfect, I have my flaws and imperfection and this post is not intended to make me look like the all glorious good guy. It is just what it is, a rejoinder.

I have lost my job and almost lost my young marriage in this process, I am not the monster Emilia has painted in her story.

I am not a Rapist!! I stand against Rape!!!

I am using this medium to say that I forgive all those that have made crazy angry comments about me and have said bad things about me on social media. May God also forgive you.

Although I am unable to comprehend the reason behind this malicious defamation, I publicly forgive Emilia Samuel and her team, I hope she gets help and repents. This sort of falsified stories makes it difficult to believe a real Rape Victim.

For those who were angry because I didn’t respond to the allegation on time and have called me all sorts of name, I pray God gives you wisdom to understand that Marriage is the most important part of a man’s life and that you have to quench the fire in your house first before quenching the one outside. Bible says, He that findeth a wife findeth a good thing; Proverbs 18:22

My Legal Team will file proper official reports in the coming days but I just needed to tell my own side of the story.

Thanks for taking out time to read patiently and may every eyes that have read this see 2019 with joy and victory in Jesus name. Selah"

Theo Ukpaa

Social media: @theoukpaa

Pulse will bring you latest developments as they unfold