Nigeria: Seun Kuti, a musician from Nigeria, was detained for allegedly assaulting a police officer
By Ahmad Hadizat Omayoza, Mamos Nigeria
The Lagos state police said on Monday that Nigerian musician Seun Kuti, the son of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, was arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer.
After a viral video showed the Grammy-nominated saxophonist and singer Kuti shouting and apparently pushing and smacking a police officer, authorities said, an order was issued for his arrest on Saturday.
He turned himself in from the beginning Monday to the base camp of the Lagos state police order, joined by a legal counselor and a family delegate, a police representative, Benjamin Hundeyin, said on Twitter.
“He has been put apprehended in accordance with the law,” he said.
“Justice will be manifestly served for all parties involved, and the ongoing investigation will be detailed, transparent, and professionally pursued.”
Kuti, who is 40 years old, is the youngest son of Fela Kuti, the man who brought Afrobeat, a powerful mix of funk and jazz, to the attention of the world in the 1980s.
Fela Kuti was a charismatic figure and activist who was harshly critical of Nigeria’s military regimes and corrupt elite. Although he passed away in 1997, his fans remain fervent.
At the age of nine, his son joined his band, Egypt 80, and took over as leader when he was 14 after his father’s death.
For their album Black Times, Kuti and the group were up for a Grammy nomination in the global music category in 2019.
