Nigerians being assaulted by police officers is nothing new; it鈥檚 as normal as spending four hours in Lagos traffic on a Friday evening.聽 So, on May 13, 2023, when the聽video of Seun Kuti, son of the Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti,聽 surfaced online of him assaulting an officer on Lagos鈥 Third Mainland Bridge, it definitely caught the attention of many and spawned many questions.聽
What exactly happened?
While the exact reason behind what started the issue in the first place is still unknown, the video showed Seun yelling repeatedly, manhandling, and eventually slapping the officer鈥檚 face.
In his defence, Seun claims he was 鈥渢, and the officer tried to kill him and his family members, although the video shows otherwise. He says that he has enough evidence to back this up and had the initial intention of placing charges against the officer for assault.
However, the Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, in a statement the next day on , ordered the arrest of Seun Kuti and a full investigation into the causes of the assault shown in the video
We鈥檝e seen this before
This isn鈥檛 the first time we鈥檝e seen celebrities assault police officers. In , when flagged down for violating a traffic law, Tiwa Savage decided she wanted all the smoke and proceeded to insult the police officers who stopped her. She didn鈥檛 stop there; she also removed and flung away the cap of one of the officers.
In 2018, was also arrested and prosecuted for threatening to open fire on an officer. And more recently, in 2022, was arrested for allegedly abducting, assaulting, and threatening to throw the police officer who stopped him for driving a car without a plate number at 3 a.m. into a river.
There are penalties for these kinds of offenses, as Nigeria is a country with laws.
What does the Law say?
According to , assaulting, resisting, or willfully obstructing a police officer while acting in the execution of his duty, or any person acting in aid of a police officer, is considered a felony and can earn you three years in prison.
also states that 鈥淎 person who assaults, obstructs, or resists a police officer in the discharge of his duty, or aids or incites any other person to assault, obstruct or resist a police officer or other person aiding or assisting the police officer in the discharge of his duty, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of 鈧500,000 or imprisonment for a term of six months or both.鈥
Reactions so far
It is unusual for Nigerians to sympathise with members of the police force, and we鈥檝e seen no lost love in this case.
Popular Nigerian singer pleaded with the Nigerian police to temper justice with mercy.
Today, Seun Kuti was and is currently being detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Lagos. Many Nigerians anticipate what penalty or punishment follows.
No one knows for sure how this case will turn out, but given the history of police assaults by celebrities, we hope it doesn鈥檛 get swept under the rug.
