"She hit me first" ILEBAYE’s dad shares his side of the story on alleged assault

Tuesday, May 12, 2026 - The father of former Big Brother Naija winner, Ilebaye, Mr Odinia Emmanuel Godson, has spoken publicly about the incident that allegedly led to the physical assault and domestic violence against his daughter.

In a confession video that has since gone viral and was shared by a journalist on her Facebook page, Mr. Godson explained the reasons behind his actions.

He said, “I am Odinia Emmanuel Godson, the father of Ilebaye Odiniya.

“I want to really thank my fellow Nigerians and Nigerians all over the world for what was on the internet about my daughter, both good and bad.

“I really want to appreciate you, but I want to put the record straight that what led to that was not that I don’t love my daughter. She was one of my best children and, if we take records from days gone by, you can note that she attended the best schools, which shows I really love my daughter.

“But at a certain time, she wanted to join Big Brother.

“When she told me, I accepted it and I began working towards it. At a certain time, she failed the first one and was evicted. Then the second one in 2023 or thereabout, I contributed a lot, using my relationship with Nigerians within and outside the country to vote massively for my daughter.

“My personal contribution there is over 75 percent, but when she successfully came out of that and won, what I was expecting from her wasn’t forthcoming.

“For instance, where I come from, if you have a child, you can’t wait until the child spoils to a certain level before you can correct him or her. Ilebaye couldn’t listen to me anymore each time,” he said.

The former winner of the Big Brother Naija reality show, Ilebaye, called on the general public for help over alleged domestic violence and physical assault.

Ilebaye, who was seen with a swollen face, cried for help during an Instagram livestream on Friday midnight.

In a trending video from the livestream, the reality star was seen screaming and crying for help while a man believed to be her father was allegedly seen physically assaulting her in the background.