A popular Gospel Singer, Salau Aliu Olayiwola known as Testimony Jaga has narrated his side of the story over alleged assault on his co- landlord’s wife, Agbede Abimbola who resides at Agbado area of Lagos State on Tuesday 17th January 2023.
It was alleged that Testimony Jaga instructed his boys (loyalists) to gang-beat Mrs Agbede after insulting and pushing him over the incident of road blockage that occurred at their neighborhood on that fateful day.
Both parties agreed at Alagbado Police Station that the matter will be settled within the community, until the matter regenerated again when Mrs. Agbede called, seeking justice over the physical assault.
Narrating his side of the story to Security & Crime Correspondents Association of Nigeria (SCCAN) President, Mrs Olushola Okunlade who frown at the assault, the Gospel singer said he never touched her even when the woman slapped, pushed him away at the scene of the incident, Jaja claimed he got to the station first as the complainant because he was not trained to beat women and cannot beat her.
According to him, “I was in front of my house in the means of my people. We do hold weekly fellowship in the area and were dedicating a car when the incident occurred. It was the woman who slapped and pushed me away when her friend complained about the roadblock.
“The woman showed she was not well trained, how can a woman push a man and slap him? Her friend in a car came to visit her, and we were not blocking the road. My fellowship members rushed her in my defense when they saw what she did.
“Mrs Agbede also held onto my shirt and also damaged my multi-million naira gold chain. I thank God I have all the video proof, I do not pass my boundary, co-landlord’s wife walked up to me in front of my property, and slapped me, in front of my people, do you expect my people to look on and do nothing”, he said.
Mrs Agbede also spoke, she said his eldest child celebrated his birthday and she ordered items to give him and few friends a treat. “My friend was bringing the items in a car but could not access the close because the singer’s fellowship blocked vehicular movement.
“She asked me to follow her to the car to bring the items to the house and we got to the fellowship point where she approached Jaga. I didn’t even know what they discussed. The next thing he just came over to me and started pointing fingers at my forehead, screaming ‘’I am a landlord in this neighbourhood like you people.
“You have to learn how to respect me. I was so shocked and I pushed his hands away, asking if he was going to beat me up. Jaja immediately ordered his people to descend on me. The next thing was a slap from all his boys. I was mobbed by over 20 people who beat me up.
“I was fasting and went down immediately. They beat me so much that I slumped. When I managed to regain strength, I held on to one of them to stand up. But they beat me even more, dragging me to a gutter on the road,’’ Mrs. Agbede narrated.
She added that she had never seen anything like that in her life. “I was wondering if that was how I would die. I managed to stand up and they beat me to a pulp again until I lost balance. Then, two ladies among them came from nowhere and poured urine on me.
“Jaga kept saying he was going to teach me a lesson. I couldn’t talk or resist. I simply lay helpless, I managed to leave there. I called my husband because he was not around. My husband advised me to go to the police station to report. Jaga asked his boys to close the gate to our street.
“He told my friend not to leave or else she will be “butchered”. So, a police patrol came in. The officers from the Alagbado Police Station at AIT, Alagbado came to pick us up because Jaga called them to pick us up. All of the incidents happened around 12:00 noon”, she claimed
Husband to the woman allegedly assaulted, Olayinka Agbede, said the Gospel singer assaulted his wife to settle old scores, added that he has once petitioned the Lagos State Government when Jaga was running a clubhouse that was causing noise pollution in the neighborhood.
According to him, “The whole thing was my action to curb the excesses of noise pollution in the area caused by Jaga. He had a clubhouse and a church property. We approached him to complain about the issue, but he refused.
“So, I wrote a petition against him to the ministry because he was disturbing the neighborhood with noise, even around 11:00 pm. Ever since then, he has been looking for ways to get back at me.
“On two occasions, he has sent cohorts to fight me on the street. I got a distress call from my wife on the day of the incident that she was assaulted at the command of Jaga. He also threatened me via a voice note. They beat my wife to pulp on that day. Without medical attention, the police even held my wife down for long hours.
“I had to see to how she was rushed to one hospital in Alagbado because I was far away. She had serious internal pain. The police treated me in a very appalling manner.
“I’ve reported the case to the Lagos Commissioner of police. I wrote a petition and I’ve submitted the petition. He has been issuing threats to me that he’ll wipe away my family, kill my wife and that I should sell my property and leave the place where I’m leaving.
“I want justice to be served. The police station at AIT Alagbado is compromised on the matter. He (Jaga) believes he has a lot of influence. So, he is always romancing the police officers. Everybody has silent complaints about the roadblocks, so they cannot all talk about it because he is always giving out gifts to people in the community.
“He is always surrounded by thugs and miscreants. He moves around with them and they are a threat to my life and my family. They go around harassing people. It is a lie from the pit of hell that my wife cut his chain. He is using that to blackmail my wife. On two occasions, he has planned an attack on me, and he failed.”
Mrs. Agnes John, the friend of the assaulted housewife, confirmed that she walked up to Jaga to advise him against the roadblocking. She said: “I went to my friend’s place because her son was celebrating his birthday.
“Mrs Agbede called me to bring some things to her place. On getting to the street, the road was blocked. I was horning. Then a guy appeared waving that I should stop disturbing them. I was still waiting. It was a lady that told me to park my car somewhere because Jaga’s people had blocked the road.
“When I saw Jaga, I called on him saying that I wanted to see him, and he told me to come instead. So I walked up to him and advised him that anytime they are having a program, they should create space because there could be an emergency. That was what I said. When I left there, I didn’t even look back.
“The next thing, I just saw that Jaga’s people had pounced on my friend. The people there were saying why did I go and talk to Jaga. I was helpless because he was surrounded by stern-looking people. They surrounded my friend, beating her. They dragged her into the gutter. Another lady came out and poured urine on her.
“While we made an attempt to leave the street to report to the police, he threatened us. The police came to pick us up. We went there (police station) and Jaga showed up after several calls. Community people came around to try and settle it. They were blaming me that I was at fault, that I should have not gone to meet Jaga and correct him for blocking the road.
“My friend didn’t slap Testimony Jaga. She did not. I was the one who reacted to the parking issue. Then the next thing I heard was Testimony Jaga shouting at my friend saying that “the same way you’re a landlord in this area, is the same way I’m also a landlord” so it led to Jaga’s people pouncing on her.”
Meanwhile they have been invited by the Area Commander (Area P) Abesan Ipaja to meet on Tuesday 31 January 2023 at 04:00 pm, Abimbola Agbede, her husband, and Testimony Jaja including others will meet there, while Jaja called on Journalists to meet them there tomorrow as he promised explain what ensued that day to everyone.