A Lagos State Magistrates Court sitting in Yaba, Lagos on Tuesday, ordered the remand of Afrobeat musician, Seun Kuti, for 48 hours in police custody.
The police dragged Kuti to court last Saturday for assaulting one Inspector Mohammed Aminu in Lagos, as captured in a viral video.
The youngest son of late Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti has been in police custody since Monday after turning himself in in response to an arrest warrant issued by the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba.
On Tuesday, the police took him to court to obtain an order keeping him in custody until the investigation was completed.
The police told the magistrate, Adeola Olatunbosun, that Kuti violated Section 356 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act.
On May 13, 2023, the defendant was reported to have wounded and assaulted a police officer, obstructed his lawful duty, and conducted himself in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace, according to the prosecution led by S. A Adebeshin and Morufu Animashaun.
The singer allegedly drove dangerously on the highway outward Third Mainland Bridge and purposefully grabbed a police officer in uniform, slapping him in the face.
The prosecution requested that Seun Kuti be held in custody for 21 days pending legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.
They stated that the application was made to allow the police to complete their investigation.
The prosecution also claimed that the assaulted officer was in an undisclosed hospital, which was later discovered to be be the Police clinic, Ikeja, receiving medical attention.
However, the lead defence counsel, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN), contended that he was unaware of the remand application, adding that there was no basis to request for the remand of his client.
The SAN argued that the offences levelled against his client were bailable.
The offences and punishment are straightforward and well stated under the law.
Saying that Kuti refused to write a statement, is not enough to bring an application for detention. He is not a flight risk. He should be admitted to bail on terms that he shows up anytime he is needed by the court, the SAN argued.
The magistrate, in her ruling, said, Following the remand application presented before the court, I am advising that the case file be duplicated and sent to the Directorate of public prosecutions within 72 hours.
The defendant is hereby remanded for 48 hours in police custody to allow the police to conclude their investigation. After 48 hours, his bail will take effect.
The defendant will be granted bail in the sum of N1m with two responsible sureties, a three years tax payment receipt that is verifiable; one of the sureties must have a landed property within the court jurisdiction.
She adjourned the case till May 22, 2023, for mention.
Meanwhile, The PUNCH has learned from reliable sources that police raided Seun Kuti’s home on Akin Osiyemi, off Allen Avenue in Ikeja, on Tuesday in search of exhibits, as well as seizing his wife’s mobile phone.
According to an eyewitness who requested anonymity, the policemen accompanied the musician during the search while searching his flat for exhibits.
“The police officers invaded Seun’s home here on my street, Akin Osiyemi, and he was in the vehicle with them while on handcuffs,” the eyewitness said.
They stormed his apartment in search of exhibits. But they also seized his wife’s phone before driving off with Seun Kuti.
Also, a police source at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, Lagos, told our correspondents that the Afrobeat legend was humiliated and threatened by aggrieved police officers while detained in police cell on Monday.
Some of my colleagues who were aggrieved over the incident took turns in humiliating and threatening Seun Kuti on Monday.
The officers told him that he would have been dead if they were the ones he slapped during the altercation with their colleague on Saturday.
He wasn’t even allowed to make a written statement until about 8pm on Monday night, and he refused to give a statement after he was brought to the counter.
Despite phone calls and text messages to his phone line on Tuesday, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, did not respond to our correspondent’s inquiries about the incident as of press time.
Earlier on Tuesday, the singer’s lawyer lamented in a statement that the police did not allow his wife access to give him food in the cell on Monday.