Oluyomi Olawore LLP, the law firm allegedly behind the assault on lawyer Kunle Karimu has finally spoken out after a video, which showed Karimu being assaulted by the Nigerian Police allegedly on their orders, went viral and sparked outrage.

In the new statement Lailasnews.com exclusively received from Mr. Oluyomi Olawore, what he says truly happened is totally different from the narration that went viral with the video.

You recall, Kunle Karimu was said to have been assaulted by the police after he confronted his former boss to demand for his salary.

Please read below the statement Lailasnews.com received from Oluyomi Olawore LLP:

Alleged Contracted Assault on Mr Kunle Karimu 
Preamble:



I have watched the viral video of Mr. Kunle Karimu (my former colleague in chambers) being assaulted by Policemen and I state without equivocation that I did not give any instruction to that effect and find his treatment reprehensible.

The assault of any person (whether by a private citizen or law-enforcement officer) is unacceptable and should be deprecated.

I have become aware that a lot of public condemnation has followed the publication of the viral video, and much of that condemnation and opprobrium has been visited on me.

It has been alleged that I treated Mr. Karimu badly as an employee and when he called at my office to demand his rights, I invited the Policemen to assault and threaten him.

Mr Karimu has also put forward his own story making a number of allegations against me. I make bold to state, categorically, that the allegation that I contracted Policemen to assault him is untrue and an unwarranted smear campaign.

What really happened between Oluyomi Olawore LLP & 
Kunle Karimu?

Mr. Kunle Karimu was employed in my law firm and assumed work on 3rd July, 2017 as a Junior Counsel.

In my view as his supervisor, his performance on the job was less than satisfactory but as a responsible employer and a much older lawyer, I was loathe to dismiss him as I did not want to have his record tainted with a dismissal and I felt that he could be encouraged to improve.

Eventually, it became clear that he could no longer continue with us and rather than dismiss him, he was advised at the end of May, 2018, to resign. He sent in his letter of resignation in early June and it was accepted.

He was to work for the whole of June 2018 and receive his salary for June. I felt that he could use the one month period to look for another job.

Upon acceptance of his resignation in early June 2018, I issued him a cheque post-dated to 29th June, 2018 for his total June salary (which he accepted) – so that at the end of the month there would be a clean break.

By our practice, salaries are paid either by cheque (which are pre-crossed from the bank) or bank transfer. Mr. Karimu did not complain about the cheque being crossed.

About a week into June, 2018, Mr. Karimu became very disruptive in the office and was distracting the other staff. He was told to stop work on Friday 8th June, 2018 but still keep the salary already tendered to him for the whole of June 2018.

Surprisingly, on Monday 11th June, 2018, he came to the office. When I saw him I insisted that his employment had ceased and he should leave. He left the office.

On the 29th of June, 2018, Mr. Karimu sent the cheque back through my secretary, who had gone to the bank for some transactions – with a message that I should open the cheque. I replied that he should pay in the cheque as he could well do ordinarily.

He then barged into our office, came to my inner office and demanded forcefully that I open the cheque. He cut-off the CCTV monitor, locked the door to my inner office leaving me alone with him.

I was apprehensive of what he might do and given that it was a glass door, I called out to one of the lawyers to proceed to Lion Building Police Station for help – fearing a breach of the peace and likely assault on my person.

I did not call in thugs or engage in self-help. I believe that as a responsible citizen and officer of the law, I was entitled to call for the Police to arrest a worsening situation.

However, I had no interaction with the policemen before the incident or during the incident.

Whilst waiting for the Police to arrive, Mr. Karimu suddenly unlocked the door to my inner office and went out. I thought it was all over, not knowing until much later that he actually went to lock up the main door to the office. He returned to my inner office to lock me in with him again and became agitated and started making phone calls.

I heard him asking the person(s) on the other end of the phone whether they were set. He then called my secretary and told her to let my wife know what was happening to me.

Subsequently, he demanded that I make an immediate online transfer to him, which I refused to do (being apprehensive of the risk of logging into my online account under duress).

My other colleagues in the office were calling and at a point I answered the phone and put it on speaker for the people outside to speak to Mr. Karimu, but he refused to engage with them and they could not enter my office, hence I eventually succumbed to his harassment and aggression and opened the crossed cheque to enable him cash same over the counter.

This event transpired over a period of about 2 hours and my emotional state (being locked into my office and threatened by an aggressive and very hostile young man) could only be imagined.

Mr. Karimu then unlocked the door and left my office whilst I was still petrified and quavering about the drama that had just unfolded. At that point, two of the lawyers came to my office to inform me that Policemen were slapping him, and I instructed them to immediately tell the Policemen that they should leave Mr. Karimu alone and I was in any event not pressing any charges.

Throughout the incident (from the time Mr. Karimu barged in and locked the door up to the time the Policemen came and left with him), I was in my inner office and did not know or see what had happened as he had earlier cut-off the CCTV monitor.

I state categorically that I did not order his beating as I had no right or power to and in any event that is not in my character. I am a firm believer in the rule of law and would not take any unlawful action against anybody (and especially not against a fellow colleague).

In this matter, I was a victim of the aggression and harassment of Mr. Kunle Karimu who had a valid cheque properly signed by me in his hand but insisted on holding me hostage and under subtle threat in my office until I opened the cheque for him to cash over the counter.

If I had been strangled or harmed in any other way by him, I guess the narration would be very different now.

Now, however, I have been vilified and called all manner of names by some colleagues and others who have not bothered to hear my own side of the story. Happily, there are witnesses who can testify as to what happened in my office that day.

I end by reiterating that the Policemen were invited to prevent a breakdown of law and order within the confines of the law.

Source - https://lailasnews.com/exclusive-oluyomi-olawore-llp-lawyer-behind-alleged-assault-on-kunle-karimu-finally-speaks/

Well written rebuttal.

Who do we believe?

I think Mr Olawore should have obliged Mr Karimu by opening the cheque at the outset. Being obdurate yielded negative outcomes for both parties.

Everyone now knows Mr Karimu may be incompetent and as alleged, may be damn very aggressive and dramatic.

For Mr Olawore, very bad publicity for his firm. A cross section of the public will maintain he treats his members of staff poorly!

We dont knw who to believe again but what I know is that most LAWYERS are LIARS in suits. If a liar sorry I mean Lawyer lies against you ehn, it takes only God to vindicate you. I sense some lies in this write up. He just want to cover up for his ill behaviour towards the guy. It was not the guy who decided not to do the mandatory one month notice of resignation you were the one who stopped him, why didnt you pay him the token you are paying and allow peace to reign abi the token you are paying to the poor guy is up to what u spend on ur oloshos?

t

Go to court. Get a lawyer. Leave social media.



check my SIGNATURE

Keep lying to yourself... I wish the guy had Enuf resources to Sue the hell out of u.... Lack of job opportunities have turned opportunist like u into demi-gods... Fool

FlirtyKaren:
Oluyomi Olawore LLP, the law firm allegedly behind the assault on lawyer Kunle Karimu has finally spoken out after a video, which showed Karimu being assaulted by the Nigerian Police allegedly on their orders, went viral and sparked outrage.

In the new statement Lailasnews.com exclusively received from Mr. Oluyomi Olawore, what he says truly happened is totally different from the narration that went viral with the video.

You recall, Kunle Karimu was said to have been assaulted by the police after he confronted his former boss to demand for his salary.

Please read below the statement Lailasnews.com received from Oluyomi Olawore LLP:

Alleged Contracted Assault on Mr Kunle Karimu 
Preamble:



I have watched the viral video of Mr. Kunle Karimu (my former colleague in chambers) being assaulted by Policemen and I state without equivocation that I did not give any instruction to that effect and find his treatment reprehensible.

The assault of any person (whether by a private citizen or law-enforcement officer) is unacceptable and should be deprecated.

I have become aware that a lot of public condemnation has followed the publication of the viral video, and much of that condemnation and opprobrium has been visited on me.

It has been alleged that I treated Mr. Karimu badly as an employee and when he called at my office to demand his rights, I invited the Policemen to assault and threaten him.

Mr Karimu has also put forward his own story making a number of allegations against me. I make bold to state, categorically, that the allegation that I contracted Policemen to assault him is untrue and an unwarranted smear campaign.

What really happened between Oluyomi Olawore LLP & 
Kunle Karimu?

Mr. Kunle Karimu was employed in my law firm and assumed work on 3rd July, 2017 as a Junior Counsel.

In my view as his supervisor, his performance on the job was less than satisfactory but as a responsible employer and a much older lawyer, I was loathe to dismiss him as I did not want to have his record tainted with a dismissal and I felt that he could be encouraged to improve.

Eventually, it became clear that he could no longer continue with us and rather than dismiss him, he was advised at the end of May, 2018, to resign. He sent in his letter of resignation in early June and it was accepted.

He was to work for the whole of June 2018 and receive his salary for June. I felt that he could use the one month period to look for another job.

Upon acceptance of his resignation in early June 2018, I issued him a cheque post-dated to 29th June, 2018 for his total June salary (which he accepted) – so that at the end of the month there would be a clean break.

By our practice, salaries are paid either by cheque (which are pre-crossed from the bank) or bank transfer. Mr. Karimu did not complain about the cheque being crossed.

About a week into June, 2018, Mr. Karimu became very disruptive in the office and was distracting the other staff. He was told to stop work on Friday 8th June, 2018 but still keep the salary already tendered to him for the whole of June 2018.

Surprisingly, on Monday 11th June, 2018, he came to the office. When I saw him I insisted that his employment had ceased and he should leave. He left the office.

On the 29th of June, 2018, Mr. Karimu sent the cheque back through my secretary, who had gone to the bank for some transactions – with a message that I should open the cheque. I replied that he should pay in the cheque as he could well do ordinarily.

He then barged into our office, came to my inner office and demanded forcefully that I open the cheque. He cut-off the CCTV monitor, locked the door to my inner office leaving me alone with him.

I was apprehensive of what he might do and given that it was a glass door, I called out to one of the lawyers to proceed to Lion Building Police Station for help – fearing a breach of the peace and likely assault on my person.

I did not call in thugs or engage in self-help. I believe that as a responsible citizen and officer of the law, I was entitled to call for the Police to arrest a worsening situation.

However, I had no interaction with the policemen before the incident or during the incident.

Whilst waiting for the Police to arrive, Mr. Karimu suddenly unlocked the door to my inner office and went out. I thought it was all over, not knowing until much later that he actually went to lock up the main door to the office. He returned to my inner office to lock me in with him again and became agitated and started making phone calls.

I heard him asking the person(s) on the other end of the phone whether they were set. He then called my secretary and told her to let my wife know what was happening to me.

Subsequently, he demanded that I make an immediate online transfer to him, which I refused to do (being apprehensive of the risk of logging into my online account under duress).

My other colleagues in the office were calling and at a point I answered the phone and put it on speaker for the people outside to speak to Mr. Karimu, but he refused to engage with them and they could not enter my office, hence I eventually succumbed to his harassment and aggression and opened the crossed cheque to enable him cash same over the counter.

This event transpired over a period of about 2 hours and my emotional state (being locked into my office and threatened by an aggressive and very hostile young man) could only be imagined.

Mr. Karimu then unlocked the door and left my office whilst I was still petrified and quavering about the drama that had just unfolded. At that point, two of the lawyers came to my office to inform me that Policemen were slapping him, and I instructed them to immediately tell the Policemen that they should leave Mr. Karimu alone and I was in any event not pressing any charges.

Throughout the incident (from the time Mr. Karimu barged in and locked the door up to the time the Policemen came and left with him), I was in my inner office and did not know or see what had happened as he had earlier cut-off the CCTV monitor.

I state categorically that I did not order his beating as I had no right or power to and in any event that is not in my character. I am a firm believer in the rule of law and would not take any unlawful action against anybody (and especially not against a fellow colleague).

In this matter, I was a victim of the aggression and harassment of Mr. Kunle Karimu who had a valid cheque properly signed by me in his hand but insisted on holding me hostage and under subtle threat in my office until I opened the cheque for him to cash over the counter.

If I had been strangled or harmed in any other way by him, I guess the narration would be very different now.

Now, however, I have been vilified and called all manner of names by some colleagues and others who have not bothered to hear my own side of the story. Happily, there are witnesses who can testify as to what happened in my office that day.

I end by reiterating that the Policemen were invited to prevent a breakdown of law and order within the confines of the law.

Source - https://lailasnews.com/exclusive-oluyomi-olawore-llp-lawyer-behind-alleged-assault-on-kunle-karimu-finally-speaks/

See Essay

Make them carry their matter go court na

I saw the post on Twitter then and i made a comment that i do not care what the man did. whether he is at fault or not. I do not blame his employer nor anybody. but i blame the police men for doing that to a citizen. you don't just beat up people when making an arrest. The slap is what get to. they can call for police for any reason but its left police to do the needful and maintain peace not slapping the guy. unto what now

Lies.

To my Little Understanding, This sounds like a Huge LIE!!

Lawyers will always be lawyers. They loathe using popular and simple English words to communicate to the public.

They will send you 50,000 words document and call it brief. Lawyers will frustrate you


By the way, the brief seems cooked up. Let the authority decides and punish whoever erred.

You are a lucky man, in the US the employee sometimes saunter in armed with assault rifles, we all know how the stories always pan out

http://www.ktvz.com/news/nigerian-man-gets-15-years-for-irs-tax-return-scheme/756876081


Same stuff.

Kazeem Oluwatosin bags 15 years in Oregon, US for $11 million netted from fraud.

He was planning to build 5 Star Hotels in Lagos before he was apprehended.

Hmmm

This rebuttal is full of lies.

Someone comes to your office and locks you in....and all your other staff were looking and did not stop him??

Oga lawyer, you can lie o.

.... and he has carefully painted Mr Karimu as an incompetent lawyer not worth hiring by any other firm. In any case, I think this senior lawyer has applied professional antics in swaying the case to his favour.... We are following.

Who do we believe now that bush meat don dey hunt the hunter

Buhari but why

This is a blatant lie. From d long essay
He held u hostage in ur office d 1st time and d oda staffs were standing outside watching. He went outside ur office locked the main door then he still went inside ur office where u were seated waiting 4 him to come back and d oda staffs were watching him after he had held u hostage d 1st time. HOW NA

From ur narration, u didn't mention anywhere he came with an harmful object so afar oga boss. Odas were just dia watching him.

Anoda question is who recorded d fiasco with d SARS officials cos in d whole story u didn't mention dat he came with people.

All this long essay Na lies 4rm d pit of hell

I smell lies

Is it by force to work for somebody All these lazy Buhari YOOTS sef
No go hustle your own,dey find salary.

Now let me see the first mumu to quote me

he cut CCTV how manage... cooked up lies

Even though I am not a lawyer, I have some questions for you Sir.

Why did you give out a closed post dated cheque? though you claimed "so that at the end of the month there would be a clean break"

How were you able to call someone to get you the police to harass the guy when held hostage in your office?

akinszz:
he cut CCTV how manage... cooked up lies

So many thing already showed dis narration Na pure lie.
He disconnected CCTV and ur oda employees were watching him.

LAWYERS ARE TRULY LIARS

liar! show us the bank cheque u gave am/ur signature. Nonsense. The junior lawyer shud thank his star say nor bi Sars d thief kal, dey for change the tori upside down

This story or rebuttal is too fake. He couldnt even package it well.

Just imagine the bogus claims that dont make sense and cant stand the slightest scrutiny.

Abeg talk another thing joor!

This man is trained by lie mohammed. how can you say he cut the cctv camera because you have deleted what happened and that could have been his only evidence. secondly he held you for two hours before police could arrive , oga lawyer the lion house you sent your lawyer staff to go call police is it in Egbeda that it tpook police two hours to come

Lies

This man is a blatant liar. The junior lawyer might not be fantastic no doubt, but this event was just a simple expression of oppression. Fortunately Karma is a bae. The children should watch out.

oluwayimika123:

So many thing already showed dis narration Na pure lie. He disconnected CCTV and ur oda employees were watching him.
LAWYERS ARE TRULY LIARS

they are all professional liars