AFROBEAT singer Seun Kuti is set to be detained until Monday, May 22, following a court order obtained by the Lagos State Police Command, according to his lawyer, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika.
Olumide-Fusika, in an interview with Channels Television on Thursday, May 18, revealed that the police approached the Magistrate’s Court in Yaba to request a variation of the bail previously granted the musician.
He said Kuti’s legal team was unaware of the police’s court appearance, and as a result, he was not represented during the proceedings.
Olumide-Fusika, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), expressed dismay at the development, stating that by the time he arrived at the court, the decision had already been made.
While the police had applied for a variation of the bail conditions, the lawyer said the Magistrate declined their request but extended Kuti’s detention until Monday, May 22.
The ICIR made several unsuccessful efforts, including phone calls, to the state police spokesperson, Ben Hundeyin, for comments.
Meanwhile, the police have said they discovered suspicious items during a search of the home of the Afrobeat singer on Wednesday, May 17.
Hundeyin disclosed this in a tweet while responding to criticism on how the police are handling the musician’s ongoing case of assault against a policeman.
Nairaland founder, Seun Osewa, accused the police of harassing Seun Kuti’s family by allegedly ransacking their home and seizing his wife’s phone.
“You are making people who were sympathetic to the police because Seun Kuti’s behaviour was despicable to remember why they hated the police before. This is bad Public Relations (PR) for the police,” Osewa tweeted.
In response, Hundeyin said, “In the course of our investigation, we stumbled on certain suspicious things that needed to be proven/disproved beyond reasonable doubt.
“We, therefore, applied for and duly got a search warrant from the court which we have executed. Investigation continues.
“No law restricts the police to investigating only the initial crime. World over, Police Departments stumble on other crimes while investigating an initial crime. We are duty bound to investigate them in line with our mandate of detecting and investigating crimes.”
Seun, son of Afrobeat legend, Fela Kuti was seen in a viral video slapping a policeman in Lagos State.
The Inspector General of Police, IGP Alkali Baba Usman, according to a statement from police spokesman, CSP Muyiwa Adejobi, thereafter ordered the arrest of the musician.
Kuti on Monday turned himself in at the Lagos State Police Command Headquarters, Ikeja accompanied by his lawyer and family members.
The 40-year-old musician was subsequently arrested and moved to the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Panti.
On Tuesday, he was arraigned before Magistrate Adeola Olatunbosun of a Magistrate’s Court in the Yaba area of Lagos State.
The Afrobeat singer was, however, granted bail but according to his lawyer, he is expected to meet his bail conditions within 48 hours.
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