After eight days in police custody, afrobeat musician Oluseun Anikulapo Kuti, also known as Seun Kuti, was released on Tuesday night.
Seun Kuti, was taken into custody by the State Criminal Investigation Department in Panti, Lagos, but was freed on bail on Tuesday night.
His counsel, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, SAN, verified the situation in a telephone conversation with our correspondent on Tuesday night.
Yes, Seun Kuti was just freed, he said.
Just letting everyone know that @RealSeunKuti has been freed from @PoliceNG incarceration in Lagos. Hasta la victory siempre!, tweeted Omoyele Sowore, the African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, along with a clip of Seun celebrating with his family.
According to The PUNCH, Kuti is accused of attacking a police officer on Saturday, May 13, after an encounter on the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.
He was accused of slapping an inspector by the police after he drove recklessly on the bridge and purposely impeded a moving police car.
Seun, the eldest child of Fela Kuti, the godfather of Afrobeat, was detained on May 15 for reportedly attacking a police officer on Lagos’ Third Mainland Bridge.
On May 23, protesters had already called for Seun’s immediate release within 24 hours.
In order to get the police to free Kuti from custody, demonstrators flocked to the Chief Magistrate Court in Yaba, Lagos.
The Youth Rights Campaign (YRC), AAC, Movement for African Emancipation (MAE), Pan-African Consciousness Renaissance (PACOR), Workers and Youth Solidarity Network (WYSN), Movement of the People (MOP), and allies organised and sponsored the demonstrations.
Additionally, they held signs that read, among other things, “#FreeSeunKutiCampaign,” “Independent Judiciary: Is it Really Independent,” and “End Police Brutality.”
Recall that during a search of the Afrobeat musician’s residence in Lagos State, the police claimed to have found suspicious things.
In a tweet in response to criticism of how police are handling the musician’s continuing case of assault against a police officer, Lagos police spokesman Benjamin Hundeyin revealed this.
“During the course of our inquiry, we came across certain suspect items that required proof beyond a reasonable doubt to support or refute them.
“We therefore requested and properly obtained a search order from the court, which we have since carried out. The investigation is ongoing.
“No law restricts the police to investigate only the initial crime. World over, Police Departments stumble on other crimes while investigating an initial crime,” Hundeyin responded.
“We are duty bound to investigate them in line with our mandate of detecting and investigating crimes.”
According to a statement from the police spokesman, CSP Muyiwa Adejobi, Seun was seen in a viral video slapping a police officer. The Inspector General of Police, IGP Alkali Baba Usman, then ordered the musician’s arrest.
The internationally acclaimed Afrobeat star had earlier expressed gratitude to his loved ones for supporting him through difficult circumstances. Seun published a message on his Instagram page that read:
”I want to say a profound thanks to everyone who showed me all this love. All my friends that showed up! Thanks most especially to my beautiful wife @chef yeidikuti.”
Haven’t heard our new EP “Night Dreamer”? Give it a listen here: https://t.co/A0FCxBrFob#NightDreamer pic.twitter.com/jHxtabAcS0
— Seun Anikulapo Kuti (@RealSeunKuti) November 27, 2019
