by Isi Esene

The assault case leveled against David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido continues to linger as Hashiru Azeez, the owner of the taxi whose driver was allegedly assaulted gives an insight into the intrigues surrounding the case, Punch is reporting.

Azeez, the car owner who employed Femi Ajibola, the driver who claimed he was assaulted by the popular artiste said, “When Ajibola initially told me about this matter, I did not believe him. Later, I went to Beni’s Apartment in company with Sgt. Nuru Umar, who is the Investigating Police Officer, and we found out that he was right.

“We went to the DPO and he called Davido’s father after I took time to explain who the boy was,” Azeez said.

Immediately after the story surfaced in the media, Susan, the lady who was conveyed in the cab to see Davido allegedly threatened Ajibola at the taxi park where he operates.

According to reports, Azeez further explained saying, “I got a call from Ajibola that Susan allegedly went to the park to threaten him. She said that if he was claiming that he lost N100,000 during the incident with Davido, she would pay the money. Then she asked if the cab driver had forgotten that she lost her cell-phone, which was valued at N175,000.

“She said that Ajibola would have to produce her phone because he was the one that took them to the hotel in his cab. She added that she would deal with him,” he said.

According to the car owner, he advised Ajibola to report the threat to the police which he did and he later got a call to meet with the Adeleke family at the Bar Beach Police Station.

He explained that due to their suspicion of a hidden agenda in the manner the invitation was extended they went to the police station with their lawyer, Ademola Olamide, who insisted on seeing the young artiste before discussions can take place between both parties.

Olamide was however prevailed upon to discuss with the Adeleke’s who denied Davido’s direct involvement in the matter but offered to pay the equivalent of the driver’s two weeks wages.

“I told my lawyer that there was no basis for compensation since he denied assaulting Ajibola. I said he should produce those who beat up Ajibola, that the police should do their job and we would know what step to take from there,” he said.

Azeez accused Davido of collecting the car keys and later handing it to the DPO and insisted that the Dami Duro crooner must publicly apologize for his actions before any further actions can be considered.

Meanwhile, Davido’s spokesperson, Valerie Obaeze insists that the artiste is not in any way connected with the said incident.

When contacted she replied in an e-mail which read: “Thanks for your enquiry and effort to get our own side of the story, but our previous statement (still) stands. Davido was neither aware of nor involved in any incident involving the assault of a taxi driver or the illegal seizure of his keys. He does not condone violence in any form and will not be commenting further on this matter.”

The singer also tweeted this morning through his official iam_davido handle: “I want to assure all my beloved fans and friends that, I am not wanted by the police and no officer in the Nigerian police gave an order for my arrest. I went to the police some weeks ago to give a statement and cleared my name. I did not beat up any taxi driver and the lady that hired the taxi driver and all those that are involved in this matter have made statements to the police and none of them mentioned my name except the taxi driver who claims that a large sum of money was missing in his taxi, in fact the lady in question stated that she was not beaten by anyone and that nobody assaulted the taxi driver. This is a case of blackmail, and I have resolved not to succumb to any blackmail for money. And to all those that are involved in this conspiracy to bring me down, I want to remind you that God Almighty himself got me to where I am today in my music career and you will not succeed in your devilish efforts to bring me down.

Adedeji David Adeleke, aka DAVIDO”

In a previous tweet, he also suggesting suing the newspaper.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Zone 2 Police Command, Femi Balogun, confirmed that the case was being handled by his command. He said that the AIG had ordered that Davido should be brought before him with the Toyota Corolla used as taxi. He said they did not know where Davido is and he would be picked up once they have information on his whereabouts.