By Mary BASSEY, Senior Investigator Correspondent Lagos/
LAGOS– LAWYER representing Seun Kuti, the Afrobeat crooner who was spotted on viral video attacking a Police Inspector after his car was bashed by the police has taken exception to the media trial and dehumanising manner the singer was subjected to at the Police Command Headquarters Ikeja where he turned himself in adding that he’s presumed innocent until proven otherwise.
The lawyer, Adeyinka Okumide Fasuka SAN, from the Chambers of the human rights lawyer and activist, Femi Falana SAN, said he was totally piqued by the way and manner the Police acted immediately they saw him at the Police Command Headquarters Ikeja as if Seun Kuti was one of those wanted criminals; saying that they thronged towards him, had him handcuffed, took his photograph and shared on the social media and driven to the SCIID Panti Yaba on a convoy of heavily armed policemen where he was detained without obtaining statement from him.
He said, “Following his encounter with a policeman on the Third Mainland Bridge on Saturday the 13th May, 2023, my client, Mr. Seun Kuti reported himself in the office of the Commissioner of Police at the Police Command, Ikeja, at 8 am today Monday May 15, 2023. I accompanied him to the Ikeja police station together with another lawyer, Mr. Femi Akinyemi from Falana and Falana chambers. However, there was nointerrogation as it was decided he would be moved to the Force Criminal Investigation Unit at Panti, Yaba.
Before his movement, Mr. Seun Kuti, was handcuffed and his photograph taken in the open by the Lagos PPRO, Mr. Ben Hundeyin who coordinated the parade and apparently shared the photograph of his parade in the media. Mr. Kuti is presumed innocent until the contrary is proved by the State. Therefore, the decision of the police to subject him to the media parade violates section 9 of the Lagos State Administration of Criminal Justice Law, which has prohibited any form of parade of criminal suspects in Nigeria in Lagos State. The Police is supposed to enforce the Law, but prefers to disrespect and break it so casually and randomly. A Police institution that has no respect for the law it exists to enforce is not a good example to alleged law breakers.
The decision of the police to handcuff Mr. Kuti is equally illegal as it constitutes a violation of Section 5 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law. After handcuffing him, the Police then drove him in a long convoy of heavily armed personnel from Ikeja to Panti Lagos, where he was again displayed for viewing to the men and officers of that police formation, and is currently held. We await the next move of the Police on the misdemeanor alleged against Mr. Seun Kuti.”
