The ongoing feud between blogger, Linda
Ikeji and talented singer, Ayo Balogun, a.k.a
Wizkid took another twist, Sunday, after
Linda ikeji confirmed that she had reported the
public threat issued against her by Wizkid to
the Nigerian Police,and that threat against women is a big crime punishable under law.
In a post on her blog, Linda wrote: "
I’m sure many of you have read that the
police is now involved in my issue with
Wizkid. Yes, I reported his public threat to
me two Sundays ago to the Lagos State
Commissioner of Police and I want to
explain why I did it! Please pay attention
and keep an open mind.
I’ve read a lot online from people saying I
don’t like Wizkid. Even Wizkid himself thinks
I don’t like him. Why he or anyone would
think so is puzzling to me to be honest.
Apart from his achievements after he
started insulting me online a few weeks
ago…everything else, every
success Wizkid
has recorded in the last 3/4 years is on LIB.
All the awards, all the record breaking feats,
his sold out concerts, his foreign magazine
features, and collaborations, everything that
has built him up to the young man he is
today is on LIB. Please verify! Search my
blog. Please continue…
I was a huge Wizkid fan. The only song I
danced harder to than his ‘Dance For Me’
track was Fuse ODG’s ‘Antenna and Kiss
Daniel & DJ Shabzy’s Raba. So, no, I had no
dislike for Wizkid. But about a year ago, I
noticed his indirect snide remarks at me…
and when some other music star beefed
with me, Wizkid showed his support and
made disrespectful comments. That was
when I noticed he had issues with me… but
that didn’t stop me from writing about him
and celebrating him.
Now to the issue at hand. When I reported
that he was served quit notice at his Lekki
home, I stated fact and I didn’t write it out
of malice. It’s not everyday you get
exclusive stories…and I’m sure any other
blogger who got the story first would also
have published it. So, there was no beef, I
was just doing my job. A day or so after I
wrote this story, Wizkid went on my
instagram page to call me names and lied
that I slept with some director of his…which
I have said before is 1000% lies! But the
insult and lies is not why the police is now
involved.
Here’s the thing; You can insult me, insult
my family, call me any names you like, even
lie that I slept with your forefathers…but
don’t threaten me. If you threaten me, I will
act!
I read people online saying that I reported to
the police because I am scared of Wizkid.
No, my darlings, I am not afraid of Wizkid.
Though I do not take his threats lightly. I
went to the authorities for two reasons…and
please young boys of our generation, pay
attention to what I am about to write below.
You see, violence against women and threat
of violence against women is not okay.
Threatening harm to someone in a public
space is a criminal act in every country of
the world, including Nigeria. I bet some of
you didn’t know that, yeah? You can not
publicly threaten someone with harm. You
will only get away with it if your victim
doesn’t report to the authorities. If they do,
you will have a case with the police and I
promise you, the police take these things
seriously.
I reported this case to the authorities
because I want our young men to know this
is not okay. You should not raise your hands
on a woman. You shouldn’t even threaten to
raise your hands on a woman. Wizkid wrote
that he would send his 16 year old cousin to
beat the shit out of me. Letting Wizkid get
away with it is basically telling our young
men that this is okay…and it’s not!
After Wizkid made the threat to me, I saw a
lot of teen boys hailing and applauding him.
To them, this was okay. If their idol can
threaten a woman with harm, and use
derogatory words, they also can do it…and
that’s how the circle of abuse of women
continues. Women being called ‘smelly
pussy’ trended online for a day or two! Little
boys were happy to use the words. Sad!
It is appalling to me that anyone, especially
women, would cheer Wizkid on. When he
wrote RIP Linda, I saw a few young girls
write same, laughing. This is not a laughing
matter. It doesn’t matter whether you like
me or not! This is not about Linda Ikeji. This
is about abuse of women which has eaten
deep into our society, so deep that it has
now been accepted as normal. Men do it all
the time and get away with it. So many
women are battered by their husbands and
they refuse to speak up because of the
stigma. They refuse to seek help because
they are afraid of what people will say. I am
sorry, I am not one of those women. I
refuse to be victimized. And as long as I
have my voice and my platform, I will speak
up.
We women have to come together to lend a
strong voice to the plight of women in our
continent. When we see a woman being
physically and mentally abused, let’s act.
Let’s speak up. Let’s not laugh and say she
deserves it. If we continue to keep quiet,
the circle of abuse will continue. And one
day, You, yes You, will find yourself in the
receiving end of a thundering slap, followed
by heavy blows. If not you, then maybe your
daughter? Let’s condemn violence and
threat of violence against women! This is
not acceptable!
Young men like Wizkid, a father of two
young boys himself, should never advocate
violence against women. One day, he will
have a daughter, how would he feel if
another male threatens to put hands on her
or even calls her a hoe?
I can’t count how many times Wizkid called
me a hoe in his rant against me. That’s
what boys do. When they get into a fight
with a woman, they try to slut-shame her.
Smelly pussy, hoe, ashawo etc. You call a
woman, who gave another young woman,
whose real name she doesn’t even know
N500,000 just because she said she would
rather work by carrying cement than
prostitute herself, that’s the person you call
a hoe? When your mind is so warped you
can’t differentiate between a woman and a
hoe, then this is what happens. Except you
drive to Sanusi Fanfuwa at 2am to pick up a
prostitute, who proudly describes herself as
one, then you shouldn’t call any woman a
hoe.
Even Tupac who was a well known thug
could differentiate between the types of
women he dealt with. When asked in an
interview why he called women bitches, he
said people shouldn’t confuse things, that he
wouldn’t address a mother or a sister the
way he would address a bitch, that the
bitches were the ones he dealt with in the
clubs who behaved like one. He reiterated
that he respected women!
In more civilized countries, Wizkid would
have lost his endorsements and spent the
next year or so apologizing and being in the
fore-front of promoting anti-violence
crusades against women. It took Chris
Brown years to get back on his feet after
his assault on a woman. Up till today, he
doesn’t have any major endorsements and
some countries still deny him entrance into
their country i.e Australia for something he
did 7 years ago. Yes, violence against
women is serious!
And there’s the case of incitement. When
you have power and influence, you have to
be careful what you say in public. Because
you have such power, something you say
can influence your followers. A fan can
commit acts that even you may not support
or might not even condone. But because it
came out of your mouth, they think you
mean it. So it is irresponsible to say things
that might be inciteful. In Law, you can be
held responsible when people act based on
what you said in public. Tupac was charged
to court and indicted after some thugs killed
a police officer. The thugs went to court
and mentioned that their idol encouraged
violence against LA police officers in a song
where he said ‘Drop a cop’. So, we folks
with some measure of influence should be
more careful with our utterances. People
are watching and listening!
The second reason I filed a police report is
to encourage other women in similar
situations to do same. My dear ladies, if a
man threatens to puts hands on you, and
you feel the threat is real, report to the
authorities. Don’t wait until he does it. What
if you don’t survive it? If he’s picked up and
may be charged to court (yes, you can be
charged to court for making threats…it’s a
misdemeanor with a prison sentence), then
he will think twice before making threats
against you in the future or any other
woman for that matter.
I went as far as I did for me and for other
women. This is to pass a strong message to
our young men that these kinds of behaviour
towards women will not be tolerated. Should
not be tolerated. If you assault or even
threaten to assault a woman, the law will
come after you if she chooses not to be
silent. Women, don’t be silent. Let’s break
the circle. For your sake, for my sake, for
the sake of our daughters, grand daughters,
great grand daughters and all other women
that will follow them.
And that’s really all I have to say in the
matter. Thank you guys for reading
And to Wizkid fans, please be rest assured
that I wish him all the best in life. He will
continue to grow from strength to strength
(as long as he doesn’t endorse violence
against women) and his light will never
diminish. God brought him to this level and
will continue to keep him. I have nothing but
love for his craft and hope that one day, we
will put this behind us.
God bless him, me, you and everyone else in
the world.
Cheers.
What do you think? Comment below
Read also:Wizkid blows blunder in song
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