BY FOLASHADE KEHINDE
LASISI Saheed, an uncle to Barakat Melojuekun, the 16-year-old girl who accused an Ogun State Commissioner of sexual harassment, has revealed that he was the one who took Barakat to the Commissioner’s house.
Saheed revealed this in a video released shortly after Barakat and her father released separate videos in which they said they were no longer interested in the alleged sexual harassment case.
He said when they got to the Commissioner’s House, he told his niece to sit and wait in the car after which someone was told to go and fetch her. He spoke in Yoruba.
The Commissioner at the centre of the report is the Commissioner for Environment, Abiodun Abudu-Balogun.
In the video, he said, “My name is Lasisi Saheed. I am an elder brother to Barakat’s father. I live at Ita-Ogun. I was at Honourable (Abudu-Balogun’s) house where we had a meeting on December 31st and he said he needed someone who could operate a computer very well. I said I had a girl who was very good at it. So he said I should let him see the girl and I left.
“I went to meet Barakat at home and I asked if she was good at operating a computer. She said yes. So I said let’s go to Commissioner’s house. I told her he needed a computer operator at an ICT centre, that she would be paid. And she said she liked it. Then I told her to go and change her clothes and she went in to do so. I drove her to the Commissioner’s house.”
He said before he went to pick Barakat, he was in a meeting with others, so in order not to disturb those at the meeting, he told her to wait inside the car.
He added, “Later, I called Mariam to help me call her so that she would see Honourable (the Commissioner).
“I took her to the Commissioner and introduced her as the girl for the computer operator job. The Commissioner then stood up and went to her. They went inside together, maybe into the sitting room. I just saw that they both went in.”
“Not more than five or 10 minutes, they came out. That’s all I know about the matter,” he explained.
The 16-year-old girl had in a viral video on Saturday accused Abudu-Balogun of touching her breasts and caressing her in his house while reciting incantations.
This resulted in the suspension of the Commissioner by Governor Dapo Abiodun on Sunday to pave the way for police investigations.
The father of the girl, however, made a U-turn, saying, “There were a few misconceptions and misunderstanding along the line between my daughter and the Commissioner. Having discovered this, I deem it fit to inform the public and the international community that this matter should be laid to rest.
“As the father to Melojuekun Barakat, I want to appeal to the public, the international community and the media that I don’t have interest in this matter again.
“I am withdrawing my case and I want them to support me the same way they did in the beginning of this matter.”
