Hit and run: I didn’t abandon victim, says Timaya
Popular singer, Inetimi Odon, aka Timaya, says it’s not true that he abandoned the lady he was allegedly involved in an accident with on Wednesday, March 2, 2022.
According to him, his team went to visit the woman at the hospital shortly after the incident and stayed there till midnight, and he went to her home the morning after the incident.
In an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, Timaya said, “I was invited to the station when I came to the lady’s house to commiserate with her over the incident. I was there as early as 7am this morning.
“It was when we stepped outside the house that we saw police officers. The reason I went to her house was to show my profound remorse.
“I would have been there yesterday (Wednesday) but I could not make it because I had to attend something urgently at Ogun State. However, throughout the day, members of my team were with her at the hospital and home till midnight.”
The singer also maintained that he was not arrested by the police but was rather ‘invited for questioning’.
He said, “I was never arrested by the police. I was only invited for questioning at Maroko Police Station. From there, I went to the hospital to see the lady.”
A member of the singer’s team, Tobi Olushola, also told our correspondent that he was in the vehicle when the accident happened.
Narrating his version of events, he said, “We were in traffic on Ikate road. I think we scratched her car but we were unaware. We just saw her holding on to the vehicle’s side mirror.
“Timaya asked her what the problem was and she said we scratched her vehicle with ours. Timaya then asked for her phone number and her bank account details.
“But, she refused and asked him to transfer money right there. Bear in mind that we were in traffic and we did not want to delay other road users.
“Meanwhile, at that time, there were already about four men with her. We pleaded with her to let us leave the road and settle the matter amicably but she refused.
“After trying to convince her to send her relevant details to no avail, we started moving.
“However, she held onto the side mirror of the vehicle and in the process, she fell down and got injured.
“At that point, attention was already building up, and I had to get Timaya out of the scene because we could not predict the outcome of such a situation.
“I later went back to the scene with a policeman and two other people. We finally traced her to General Hospital, Lagos Island. We were with them all through and followed them to their house in the night.
“Meanwhile, he had earlier sent an emissary to her husband. The emissary had an extensive conversation with the husband and conveyed his heartfelt remorse and craved the husband’s understanding to give Timaya a chance to come and see him and do the ‘needful’.
“It was on this premise that Timaya visited the man’s home this morning, met with the man and explained what happened.
“But to his consternation, he was invited to the police station for questioning. He honoured this invitation and thereafter went to the hospital to see the lady but was told she had been discharged.
“It is not in Timaya’s nature to intentionally harm people or treat anyone arrogantly. This event was purely an accident and we will go to every length to ensure that the lady is well taken care of. The value of life and health is supreme to every other consideration.”
