2017: 5 Nigerian music acts who got into Police trouble this year
For some Nigerian stars, 2017 was a dreaded year because of their ordeals with the Police
As 2017 comes to an end, it is also noteworthy as a year some Nigerian musicians underwent some ordeals that can be described as no too satisfactory. BlackBox Nigeria bring you FIVE Nigerian music acts who faced Police trouble in 2017.
Davido
Davido got enmeshed in a scandal following the death of his friends
Musically, 2017 was Davido’s year. He is perhaps the biggest act of the year despite, new found buddy, Wizkid’s international breakthrough. The year however didn’t go without some travails. In a spate of one week, the ‘Fia’ crooner lost three associates which got the entire country talking.
It started with the death of Tagbo Umeike who was later confirmed to be actress, Caroline Danjuma’s boyfriend. His death was due to a controversial overtake of alcoholic substance.
Tagbo’s death got Davido into Police trouble
Days later, Davido’s inhouse Dj and buddy, Dj Olu was also found dead in a car in a Banana Island garage. He was with yet another Davido associate who was identified as Chime. Both corpses were found and initial investigations revealed that they both died of drug overdose.
As expected, the Nigerian Police declared an investigation on Davido following complicating reports on Tagbo’s death. The issue has however been settled after the HKN/DMW boss paid a visit to the Lagos State Police Commissioner, Edgal Imohimi to clear his name.
Dammy Krane
Mugshots of Dammy Krane following his arrest in the US
2017 will go down as a year singer, Dammy Krane will never forget in a hurry following his ordeal in the hands of the law.
The singer had been billed to perform in the US but did more than that. He ended up cooling his heels in detention on fraud allegations.
Dammy Krane was picked up on June 1 at an airport in Miami, Florida over allegations of using a stolen credit card to book for a private jet ride. On his arrest, Miami Police revealed that they found seven fake credit cards in his pocket. He was later taken to court and remanded in cell. The singer was released a week later after meeting up with $7,500 bail condition.
He however denied being involved in fraud in an appeal to family and fans stating that “I was arrested by the Miami PD for fraud. I do not do fraud and I do not partake in such activities. It just happened to be that the agent booked my flight with fraudulent cards.”
Burna Boy
Burna Boy has maintained a bad boy image since his entrance into the Nigerian music scene
Damini Ogulu will go down as the 2017 music villain in Nigeria. Despite having a good run musically with successful singles and a new found chemistry with fellow act, Skales, the Port Harcourt born Burna Boy still ended up getting into trouble with the law.
Burna Boy following a long time feud with fellow Rivers state born music act, Mr 2kay promised to deal with the Grafton Records born act. And he did just that.
On Sunday, October 22, 2017, armed men attacked Mr 2kay in his room at Eko Hotel and Suites after a performance. He was beaten up and his valuables carted away. Police almost immediately sprung into action which led to the four culprits.
On interrogation, the bandits indicted Burna Boy and his manager as the mastermind of the attack on Mr 2kay. They revealed that the ‘Soke’ singer through his road manager, Joe Kantiock paid them to deal with 2kay to teach him a lesson.
Subsequently, Burna Boy was declared wanted by Lagos state Police Commissioner, Edgal Imohimi. The singer however took his time before turning himself in. on Friday, December 15 at about 5pm, the singer eventually surrendered himself to the Police. He arrived at the Lagos Police Command in Ikeja with his mum, Bose Ogulu and some legal advisors.
Burna Boy and his team with the Lagos Police Commissioner, Edgal Imohimi
He was later granted bail after cooling his heels in detention over the weekend.
Tillaman
The Police is your friend…not for Tillaman
Being a popular music act or the son of one of the most revered traditional rulers in Nigeria couldn’t save ‘Koma roll’ crooner, Tillaman the other day when he got his dose of Police brutality.
Read the testimony of the singer who is the son of the Alaafin of Oyo below…
“I’ve had experiences with police but I’ve not had it this bad. At about 12 midnight on Monday, at a police checkpoint along Abraham Adesanya express way, Epe, a policeman asked me to park on the road, at a roundabout, I told him to allow me park properly to prevent being hit by another vehicle or cause traffic jam. As I did so, he kept asking if I wanted to run him over, I told him I couldn’t because I’m friends with the police; he said I was speaking English, and called me a bastard, cocking his gun but I just laughed it off thinking it was the regular police drama,” said the badly-shaken singer who has promised to press charges.
This photo corroborated Tillaman’s story
“I wasn’t asked for my vehicle particulars or what I do for a living; they just began searching my car! When they saw that my friend was recording, one of them collected her phone and threatened to slap her. I cautioned him for attempting to slap an unarmed lady and he threatened to slap me too if I didn’t shut up. He then cocked his gun and pointed it at my chest threatening to shoot me. At that point I had to reveal my true identity to save my life and to prevent the public from getting a wrong impression about me. I needed to protect my name because anybody could have made video recordings. Even after telling him I’m the Alaafin of Oyo’s son, he still pointed his gun at my chest, saying “God punish you and you papa, who you and your papa be”, he said, saying he could not fathom what brought about the anger in them. “I had done nothing wrong so I was baffled at the way they harassed me. My survival instinct just told me at that point that there might be an accidental discharge. So to protect myself I waved the gun away from my chest with my left hand, he tried to slap me but I dodged it; but before I knew it his colleague grabbed me from behind, squeezed my neck and ripped off my shirt.”
Praiz
X3M act, Praiz also got a fair share
Former Project Fame finalist, Praiz also got his own share of Police drama. The irony however is that his issue occurred at the height of the call for the restructuring of the Police Force to end brutality and harassment by the officers of the law which led to the widely accepted #EndSARS campaign.
‘Rich and Famous’ singer, Praiz was on his way to his label, x3m Music’s end of the year party when he ran into uniform men who stopped him and smashed his phone when he attempted recording them. He was later arrested and taken to the Area J Police Command Headquarters in Ajah.
The Police later claimed that that the singer whose real name is Praise Adejo was arrested for over speeding which stating that the command felt scandalized because Praiz pitched the public against it.
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