The Nigeria Police Force, Lagos State command is plotting to ensure that the detained Afrobeat singer, Seun Kuti, is taken to the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, Ogun State, to certify whether or not he is “mentally sick.”
Seun Kuti had refused to give his blood to the police for medical examination after the command got the magistrate to amend her ruling and do their bidding, according to a report by Sahara Reporters.
“The police are trying to take the Afrobeat musician to the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, Ogun State to declare him mentally sick. You can imagine what that can cause his musical career in Nigeria and abroad,” a source said on Monday.
Recall that a Sabo-Yaba Chief Magistrates Court in Lagos presided over by Adeola Olatubosun granted the police’s application for an extension of Seun Kuti’s remand for an additional four days.
On May 13, he was charged with assaulting a police officer on Lagos’ Third Mainland Bridge.
According to the documents attached, the application was moved by Simon Lough (SAN), who led a police legal team to court.
He said, “The extension is to allow further investigation into the case. We could not conclude investigation in 2 days, we now ask for extra 4 days to enable us to conclude the investigation.”
A closer look at the document used to collect Seun’s blood reveals that the court “further orders the applicant to obtain a medical doctor to examine the Respondent as provided in section 5(6) Administration of Criminal Justice Law, 2015.”
In an earlier report, the #FreeSeunKuti campaign had asked the Nigeria Police Force to drop what it described as trumped-up charges against Kuti, and release him from detention as he had met his bail conditions.
The campaign is being supported by the African Action Congress (AAC), the Youth Rights Campaign (YRC), the Movement of the People (MOP), the Socialist Equality Movement (SEM), the Movement for African Emancipation (MAE), Workers and Youth Solidarity Network (WYSN) as well as other individuals.
The campaign had made the demand in a statement released by social activist, Francis Nwapa, in which he called on Nigerian youths, workers and the general public to join in the #FreeSeunKuti campaign and the court sitting on May 23, 2023 at the Magistrate Court at Yaba, Lagos State.
According to Nwapa, “The campaign is to protest and demand that all trumped-up charges of Seun Kuti be dropped because we believe he has met all bail conditions. The campaign is also against the obnoxious attacks the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) unleashes daily on people’s democratic rights.
“The protest shall hold in Lagos, Abuja, and London tomorrow (Tuesday). And we are going to have a rally and demonstrations across these cities and other places well-meaning Nigerian youth want to organise peacefully.”
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