Nigerian musician Michael Adebayo Olayinka, alias Ruger, has finally addressed the sexual abuse he encountered during a performance in 2022.
More than a year after the incident, the singer in an interview with Naija FM in Lagos said the experience was a painful one.
He explained that “the lady didn’t just touch my manhood; she pressed it. It was so painful. It wasn’t sexy because of the aggressive nature of Nigerian girls.”
Ruger said that although he is entertained when fans serenade him at his concerts, this experience was truly unpleasant.
He added that the fan who groped him still failed to apologise to him.
“During my international shows, I enjoy ladies serenading me but that Nigerian lady grabbed my manhood aggressively. The way she grabbed it I felt pain in my stomach. I almost cried,” Ruger said.
In May 2022, a video emerged of the sexual assault of the Nigerian Afrobeats singer while on stage.
The 24-year-old artist was seen performing his hit song, Dior, when a fan reached out from the crowd and grabbed his private parts.
Visibly shocked, he stopped his performance for a few seconds and then proceeded to walk off stage.
The video sparked an online conversation about male victims of sexual assault.
“Watched the sexual assault video of Ruger and I feel traumatized too. It’s so scary, the man was just performing his craft and someone took away his joy and peace. Imagine other men that go through worse daily but can’t say because the world would mock them,” one person wrote on Twitter.
“The world is so rigged against men when it comes to sexual things we think it’s always initiated by men and they couldn’t have been wronged. Many a man lost their innocence to older women but they keep living with it because nobody listens to them,” another said.