Nigerian singer and songwriter, Adewale Mayowa Emmanuel, popularly known as Mayorkun, has dropped the teaser to his new song titled Under the Canopy.
Ironically and for reasons best known to him, Mayorkun used the voice recordings that female influencer Precious Kingsley, aka, Nicki DaBarbie, made after accusing Mayorkun and his colleague Abbey Toyyib Elias, aka, Skiibii, of ritualism.
Just on Wednesday, Mayorkun in a series of tweets, had responded to Nicki after over a month of her accusation, stating:
You know, I was going to let this remain as a court case but when I checked the comments under some of the blogs where these ridiculous allegations were posted, I was quickly reminded of how gullible most people are on the internet and how they are ready to run along, spreading any negative news without any form of clarity…
Just for the record, I never met that person on the said day, still never seen that person till this day, never knew about that person’s existence not until those allegations came up.. yet she claimed I put ‘something’ in her drink.
A lot of people believed that story and you think I’ll let this libellous claim fly? Hell fucking NO! I took this time off because I didn’t want to act out based off of emotions, because if I did; I’ll definitely act out of character.. and that is not who I am.
For weeks; I’ve been getting calls from brands I work with, colleagues, friends & family about this rubbish and you know what makes it worse? You social media commentators, internet police, even people I used to think I’m cool with.. scrambling for the tiniest bit of clout and relevance, cluelessly jumping on anything not bothered if it’s someone’s life or career on the line; it might be yours tomorrow.
I wanna re-instate, I have never seen this person before even as I am typing this! I still haven’t set my eyes on this person.. Like what else can I say? How else can I prove this?
There’s no need for me to ask for an apology where I won’t get any. I just needed to say this publicly and get it off my chest.. cos if it was a case of ‘cancellation’ as many people are quick to do, I for don go back to dey find work for bank..
But as they didn’t wait to hear my side of the story before they slandered my name, I would keep the same energy and not listen to anyone’s opinion while I press full charges.. even though I’m aware she’s remanded in prison at the moment but not on my own charge.. YET!
Now I feel better! Let’s get back to the music.. a whole lotta new music in a bit!
The genesis
It may be recalled that, on April 19, Mayorkun filed a N1billion lawsuit against Nicki DaBarbie who, on that same day via an Instagram post, had accused Mayorkun and Skiibii of being ritualists and attempting to exploit her for occultic rites, claiming that she escaped after an intense prayer.
In a video shared on her Instagram reels, the influencer, who claimed to be at Skibii’s residence, revealed that the individuals who assaulted her would press legal charges against her if she gave an account of what transpired between them.
She further spoke about how she was recorded at the hospital to portray her as being on drugs, while threatening to completely shut down her social media accounts.
Narrating her alleged ordeal, DaBarbie stated: “They will try hard to clear their names. I might die. I might not have much evidence. They will do everything to tarnish my name to save Skiibii. But at least you guys should believe me. I was invited for a boat cruise and since then, I haven’t gotten myself.
“I went there with no bad intentions… I was alone at home and was less busy and decided to go. I felt it was safe cause he’s a public figure, and we spoke for a while before I even accepted the boat cruise. It was never about money. I’m not a prostitute.”
The N1 billion suit
Reacting then, Mayorkun sued DaBarbie for what he described as “defamatory statements made against his character and reputation”.
A letter was prepared on his behalf by Monarchs & Stroud Legal Practitioners, and signed by the firm’s Associate, Oluwagbemiga Ogunlade, and the Founding Partner, Kolawole Hassan.
The letter shared on the singer’s Instagram reels reads in part, “Our client’s attention has been drawn to your online post in the early hours of the 19th day of April 2024 made via your Instagram wherein you categorically labeled our client as a ritualist and accused him alongside other individuals of a bodily harm.
“First and foremost, our client denies all allegations made as they are baseless, bizarre, and untrue, we are also aware that our client has neither met with you privately nor had any personal dealings/ relationship with you which further buttresses our assertion that your statements are unfounded and frivolous.
“Your unscrupulous remarks against our client have undoubtedly caused him financial loss and emotional trauma and have also greatly interfered with his reputation and good standing in the eyes of any right-thinking person in society.
“Your reckless and baseless accusations not only constitute defamation but also violate the rights of our client under Nigerian Law, We remind you that defamation is an extremely serious offence attracting dire consequences that are tortious and in contravention of the Criminal Code Act which criminalizes the publication of a matter likely to injure the reputation of any person by exposing them to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or likely to damage any person in their profession or trade by injury to their reputation.”
The ex-signee of Davido Music Worldwide therefore asked DaBarbie to take the offensive post down on all her social media accounts within 24 hours, make a video and written apology which will be published in two national dailies as well as desist further defamatory comments toward him and pay a sum of not less than N1 billion to him for the emotional trauma her action had caused him (Mayorkun).
Listen to the video of the teaser:
