Media practitioner and sacked Head of Programmes at Linda Ikeji TV, Mr. Theo Ukpaa was accused of rape last week by a lady named Emilia, a few days ago.

According to Emilia, Theo Ukpaa raped her when she was sixteen during a modelling audition in Lagos.

Theo has now broken his silence on the controversial issue. In a chat with a media house, he stated that he is fully aware of the allegation and he is not ready to speak about it until he is through with the honeymoon he embarked with his newly wedded wife.

Here’s what happened to me years back, I forgot about it partially and I ran into his page last week when he got married and the memories came back. He was working at @soundcityafrica as at when it happened and he presently works at @officiallindaikeji please kindly read before you judge and I know most models can attest to this. Pleaseeeee help me repost this @instablog9ja @tundeednut @stelladimokokorkus @ijeomadaisy @bellanaijaonline @olorisupergal @nigerianwomendiary @generalwayne @chinnysblogng thank you. This is the guy I’m talking about @theoukpaa

A post shared by Emilia Samuel (@amiliafairlady) on Aug 25, 2018 at 2:43pm PDT

The burden of proof lies with Mr. Ukpaa and his response is unacceptable and a means to buy time until he finds a way to discredit the alleged victim. Rape is a serious allegation that mustn’t be handled with levity, however, in Nigeria, accused rapists and sexual predators have gone scot free due to the poor justice system and the culture of silence in the country while the victims have been left to carry the stigma throughout their entire life.

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Theo Ukpaa must speak now and settle it once and for all and not hide behind his honeymoon as a way to subvert the law. The allegation has cost him his job at Linda Ikeji TV which means he needs to debunk the claims if truly he is innocent. This could be done with a Yes or No, not by speaking about it at his convenient time. The fact is that the convenient time will never come while the security agencies themselves will feign ignorance of such occurrence.

The victim has spoken out, even if she has held on to it for a long period of time, she deserves justice as that is the only thing that could take away the pain.

Theo Ukpaa’s decision to speak after his honeymoon is deceptive and must be rejected outrightly.

tosin adesina