My side of the story — Kafaru

…Raises alarm over alleged attempt by in-laws to rip him off

By Evelyn Usman

Queens Park Event Centre, in Victoria Island area of Lagos, was filled to capacity on August 31, 2019, with guests adorned in burgundy, blush pink and gold colours, which added glamour to the soothing ambience.

Nigerians and non-Nigerians from all walks of life were in attendance.

The alluring mien of the couple -Diana Faith and Temidayo Kafaru, lit an expression of envy on the faces of spinsters and bachelors in attendance.

Things fall apart

Unfortunately, things seem to have fallen apart for the couple, barely one year after the social wedding, following allegations of rape, domestic violence, deceit, power play and extortion, trailing misunderstandings between the once much-talked about couple.

A fortnight ago,  they were in the news, as 24-year-old Diana Faith, born of a Filipino father and a Benin, Edo mother,  was reported to have alerted the Lagos State Government and the Inspector-General of Police to investigate a case of alleged sexual molestation of their five months old baby by her husband, Kafaru

She further alleged that her husband raped their maid.

Diana, who reported the matter to the Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team, DSVRT, Alausa, Ikeja,  through her counsel, Bamidele Ogundele, was quoted to have called on the IGP, Adamu Mohammed to wade into the matter, saying, “ there have been constant threats to my life and that of my mother.

“I am calling on the Inspector-General of Police to intervene in my case and not allow my life and that of my family to be wasted. He (husband ) has refused to make himself available for investigation on allegations against him,” she said.

The lies, cover-up – Kafaru

However, when the man at the centre of the controversy was accosted by Vanguard, he described the allegations as false, saying it was a mere ploy by his wife and her mother to force him into doing her family’s bidding.

He alleged that he had been assaulted by his wife and mother-in-law, with a scar on his skull to show for it.

He recalled how he married Diana, with the intention to make the union blissful, only to realize later that he was allegedly lured into a contract marriage, with an outstanding debt of  N17 million still hanging on his neck.

A  statement made available to Vanguard and signed by Kafaru’s counsel, Omo-Elo Akokaike, read: “  First and foremost, Mr Temidayo  Kafaru firmly refutes and denies emphatically each and all the allegations that he had carnal knowledge of his house-maid or was engaged in unnatural acts with his own beloved son, in that the said fictitious allegations are wholly false, spiteful, untruthful, imaginary and totally without foundation or any scintilla of truth.

“It is most unfortunate and worrisome that Diana Faith Logico, whom our client has spent all his life earnings on can stoop so low to the abyss and allege that her estranged husband molested their son when he was five months old, forgetting so soon that since their son clocked three months, he has been in the custody of Mrs Edwina Logico (Temidayo’s supposedly mother-in-law).

“Hence, one wonders how Diana Faith Logico was able to invent this atrocious and baseless story just because her mother is bent on destroying our client’s hard-earned reputation in the entertainment industry for the sole reason that he is currently unable to yield to her uncontrollable and undue demands for monetary payments.

”We wish to emphatically state that our client is a very responsible, well-respected and staunch advocate against domestic violence and sexual assault against women and has over the years anchored various beauty pageants involving very beautiful women in Nigeria and Africa without any infraction or assault on anyone.

“He has won for himself a brand worthy of emulation in the entertainment industry.

”It is worthy of note that Temidayo Lucky Kafaru has unwavering and undaunted love for his son and cannot descend to such bestiality against his own son as impishly alleged by his estranged wife.

“The purported allegation of child molestation is a figment of Mrs Edwina Logico and Diana Logico‘s imagination.

“The rhetorical question to ask is, why did Diana Faith Logico wait until the marriage had broken down irretrievably before the Logicos decided to invent these unwholesome allegations of rape of a housemaid that has been with Mrs Edwina Logico since January 2020 as well as child molestation of his son against our client?

”We hereby use this opportunity to inform the general public that the said press release made by Diana as part of her family’s antics in that there are copious evidence of repeated antecedents and patterns of behaviour usually exhibited by it in the past, against men who had dared to break from marital relationship its daughters due to its compulsive, irrational behaviour and gross lack of character.

“The antecedents and facts as elucidated below are few out of several cases carried out by the Logico family against innocent men in Nigeria and outside the country:

“In 2014, the same malicious threats, invectives, blackmail and character assassination to which our client is now being subjected were also marshalled against one Deji Falope, who was engaged to one of the Logico daughters, simply for the reason that he could no longer accede to its outrageous demands and irrational behaviour.

“The young man with so much potential in the media industry had to quit his avowed profession because his reputation was badly battered. Details of that dispute were well reported in the social media”.

Alleged deceit, extortion

Explaining how the scale fell off his eyes, Kafaru said: “During the wedding preparation, my mother-in-law said she was a princess from the palace of the Oba of Benin and as such, I had to pay for the accommodation, flight ticket and clothing of  Chiefs that would be sent from the palace. I did.  Some men who claimed to be palace chiefs attended the wedding.

“By the time the Aloe Vera flower vase gifted to me by my mother-in-law got broken, it was as if the scales had fallen off my eyes. First,  I realized that all my furniture, including the television set, rug and refrigerator in the sitting room upstairs had disappeared.

“When I asked how come, my wife told me I gave them to her mother, that I was even the one that used a truck to pack them to her mother’s place.

“When I confronted her mother, she slapped me and asked why I should speak to a Princess of Benin Kingdom in that manner. She said I must buy a ram, 30 tubers of yam and palm oil for her, as demanded by tradition.

“To my surprise, when I said I won’t do such a thing,  one of my friends told me I had earlier bought the items for my mother-in-law.  He gave me the telephone number of the ram seller who confirmed I had. But I couldn’t remember.

“She dictated the kind of food to buy for my baby. For instance, the choice baby formula (name withheld) was N18,000 per tin and another one for  N12,000. I bought over 48 tins.  My mother-in-law said my wife must not breast-feed our baby so that her breast won’t be flabby.

“Again, I was told I sent a text to somebody they were owing last June, before I married my wife, promising to pay for gold jewellery worth over N850,000 which they bought.

DSVRT’s involvement

Continuing, he said:  “After my wife moved to her mother’s place with our baby, I got a call from my boss, informing that a staff of the Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team, that I was being invited to their office.

“Why my wife gave them my boss’s number instead of mine remains surprising.

“On the day I was to report at the office, a friend of mine who was to accompany me suggested we contacted my lawyer. But when I did, my lawyer said he would not be able to make it on that day.

“He advised me to reschedule another date. By the time I contacted staff of the office, through the telephone number with my boss, the lady at the other end got angry.

“The next day, some staff of the office and armed policemen invaded my home to effect my arrest”.

Police intervene

Vanguard gathered that policemen at the Zone 2 Command, Onikan, Lagos, have begun an investigation into the matter.
The policemen according to  Kafaru,  “invited my wife and her family twice; they refused until they ( police) threatened to visit their place before they showed up.

“Surprisingly, when the Investigating Police Officer, IPO  brought out the case file,  there was nowhere the allegation of child molestation was written.  Rather they (wife’s family) claimed that they were angry with me because  I was no longer sending money for my son’s upkeep.

“Diana (wife) said her grievance was as a result of my refusal to give her N10 million to start up an online business. They said I signed a contract to that effect and that they would take a copy to the Oba of Benin, as their customs demand.

“I did the traditional rites,  court and church wedding. Where the signed contract is coming in still baffles me. Besides, I do not have such money. I live in a rented duplex.

I asked her before the policemen if I was not taking care of her and the baby she said I was.”

DNA Test

Kafaru insisted that DNA must be done to ascertain the paternity of the baby.

Asked if that was why he refused giving his wife money for the baby’s upkeep, he shook his head,  saying, “ I am insisting on a DNA test because I see no reason a mother would accuse a man who stayed with her in the theatre , to give her soothing words and welcome his baby, of sexually molesting that child. That is why I am insisting a DNA must be done”.

He explained that the period he did not send money to Diana for the baby’s upkeep was during the lockdown which had an adverse effect on his business as a club consultant.

He, however, said he sent N50,000 to his estranged wife on September 14, 2020,  promising to make up for the months he defaulted next month. But he expressed shock that two days after, news on this alleged sexual molestation of his son and maid trended in the public domain.

He, therefore, appealed to the Police to carry out thorough investigation into the matter to ascertain the true position of things .

Meanwhile, sources at the Zone 2 command said the Assistant Inspector -General of Police was aware of the case and had directed discreet investigation into it.

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