• May be arraigned today
By Christopher Oji
Afrobeat musician, Seun Kuti, is still in police custody.
The Lagos State Police Command is detaining Kuti at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCIID), Panti, Yaba, Lagos.
He was arrested on the orders of the Inspector-General Police, Mr. Usman Alkali Baba, for allegedly assaulting a police officer in uniform in the line of duty.
There has been a viral video of Kuti, in which he slapped and berated the policeman.
Following the video of the assault, the IGP ordered the Lagos State Police Commissioner, Mr. Idowu Owohunwa, to arrest Kuti and charge him to court.
A senior police officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity, as he was not supposed to speak with the press, said, “Seun Kuti has been arrested by the police. He turned himself to the police after our men went to his residence. He went into hiding since Saturday, but he knew that we were on his trail, so he came in company with his lawyer to the Command Headquarters, Ikeja.”
The police officer said, after the musician’s arrest, Commissioner of Police Owohunwa ordered that he should be handed over to the SCIID to prepare the charges against him.
It was said that Kuti would have been charged to court on Monday, but because of the downpour and the time he turned himself in, it was not possible to take him to court. He might be arraigned today (Tuesday).
“He is in detention. There is no preferential treatment for him. We are not maltreating him, because he is our guest. He will be given any cooperation he needs. We cannot infringe on his rights, but he must face the consequences of his actions. We have arrested him, whether he turned himself in to the police or not, he is in our custody. We have been looking for him and he knew that he had no hiding place. So, he decided to turn up in company with his lawyer.”
According to the officer, the assaulted officer did not know who Kuti was until he trailed him to his house in Ikeja.
It was reported that Kuti alongside some his family members and friends were doing something like car racing, driving anyhow on the Third Mainland Bridge.
It was when Kuti wanted to maneuver to forcefully enter in front of the police vehicle, that the vehicle bashed Kuti’s. He jumped down and started assaulting the officer. The officer reported that Kuti’s wife and other occupants of the vehicles in his entourage were begging him to apologize to the officer, but he refused and started assaulting him.”
Daily Sun’s source said: “The officer followed the convoy and traced them to Kuti’s compound. It was at Kuti’s gate that he came down and started begging the police officer that they should resolve the issue amicably. He gave the police officer N12,000 to repair the damaged vehicle. The officer who pretended to have accepted the money in good faith, drove straight to Area F, where he lodged a complaint of assault, and dropped the money that Kuti gave him as an exhibit.”
Meanwhile, Lagos State Police Publlic Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, said, “Afrobeat musician, Seun Kuti, in the early hours of Monday, turned himself in at the Lagos State Police Command Headquarters, Ikeja, in company with his lawyer and family representative. He has been placed under arrest, in line with the law.
“The command appreciates the public for their concern and assures that the ongoing investigation will be detailed, transparent, professionally pursued; and justice will be manifestly served for all parties involved.”
SImilarly, lawyer to Kuti, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, SAN, has said that he reported himself in the office of the Commissioner of Police at the Police Command, Ikeja, yesterday at 8am and accompanied him to the Ikeja police station along with another lawyer, Mr. Femi Akinyemi, from Falana & Falana Chambers.
“However, there was no interrogation, as it was decided he would be moved to the Force Criminal Investigation Unit at Panti, Yaba. Before his movement, Kuti was handcuffed and his photograph taken in the open by the Lagos PPRO, Mr. Benjamin Hundeyin, who coordinated the parade and apparently shared the photograph of his parade in the media.
“Mr. Kuti is presumed innocent until the contrary is proved by the state. Therefore, the decision of the police to subject him to the media parade violates Section 9 of the Lagos State Administration of Criminal Justice Law, which has prohibited any form of parade of criminal suspects in Nigeria in Lagos State.
“The police is supposed to enforce the law, but prefers to disrespect and break it so casually and randomly. A police institution that has no respect for the law it exists to enforce is not a good example to alleged law-breakers.
“The decision of the police to handcuff Mr. Kuti is equally illegal as it constitutes a violation of Section 5 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law.
“After handcuffing him, the police then drove him in a long convoy of heavily armed personnel from Ikeja to Panti, Lagos, where he was again displayed for viewing to the men and officers of that police formation, and is currently held. We await the next move of the police on the misdemeanor alleged against Mr. Seun Kuti.”