Afrobeat musician, Seun Kuti, has protested the mode of investigation by the police into the case of assault against him, insinuating apparent bias.
He has therefore refused to make a statement on the case to the police as required of him at the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, where he is detained.
Seun Kuti is under arrest on the order of the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, for slapping a policeman in uniform whom he accused of bashing his car.
He turned himself in on Monday and was handcuffed.
In a statement made available to FrontPage by his lawyer, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN), Seun Kuti alleged that without his statement, the spokesman of the police command had carried out investigation into the case, issued a report and published same in the media where he (Seun Kuti) was said to have been the one who bashed the policeman’s vehicle and subsequently paid him N12,000 for the repair.
According to him, it was after the investigation which was carried out by Hundeyin that he was asked to make a statement.
READ ALSO: BREAKING: Assault: Seun Kuti turns himself in, arrested (+Photos)
Seun Kuti, the lawyer said, declared that his statement was therefore no longer necessary indicating that the police had reached a conclusion.
He said rather, he would wait for the right time and place to defend himself under the law against the “investigative findings” of Hundeyin.
Said Seun’s lawyer: “Although he had been with the Police since 8:00am on Monday 15th May, 2023, Mr. Seun Kuti notes that it was at about 8:00pm that day, after Mr. Benjamin Hundeyin had already completed and published his investigative report above, that he was asked to make a statement to the Police at the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba.
“Mr. Seun Kuti has therefore volunteered to his interlocutors a statement to the effect that since Mr. Benjamin Hundeyin has already done the investigation and issued and published his report on it, there was no useful purpose to be served by any statement from him. He will, at the right time and place, and in as rigorous a manner possible under the law, defend himself against Mr. Hundeyin’s published ‘investigative findings’.”
The statement reads in full:
- Mr. Benjamin Hundeyin who goes by the formal title of Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, but apparently doubles as the Investigating Police Officer into the case of alleged assault of a policeman by my client, Mr. Seun Kuti, has issued a Report of his investigative work.
- Mr. Seun Kuti would have expected that having completed his investigative work, Mr. Benjamin Hundeyin, a law enforcer, would proceed according to law by sending the file containing his report of investigation for legal evaluation towards possible prosecution.
- Mr. Seun Kuti is nevertheless not surprised that Mr. Benjamin Hundeyin chose instead to make his investigative report the subject of media publication, as for instance, in the Punch online publication of Monday May 15, 2023 titled “Assault: Seun Kuti apologised, gave cop ₦12,000 to repair vehicle, police say”.
- According to Mr. Benjamin Hundeyin, in his investigative report handed over to The Punch, “Seun Kuti was the one that bashed the officer’s vehicle, and the policeman followed him to call his attention to it, but the musician alighted from his car and slapped the policeman as seen in the trending video. However, the officer reported the incident at the Police Command in Ikeja.”
“The policeman was alone. After the altercation, he followed Seun Kuti to his home in Ikeja, and the musician apologised to the policeman and gave him ₦12,000 to repair his damaged vehicle.
“But the officer reported the incident at the Area F Police Command in Ikeja, and deposited the ₦12,000 at the counter while he gave a written statement concerning the incident.”
- Although he had been with the Police since 8:00am on Monday 15th May, 2023, Mr. Seun Kuti notes that it was at about 8:00pm that day, after Mr. Benjamin Hundeyin had already completed and published his investigative report above, that he was asked to make a statement to the Police at the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba.
- Mr. Seun Kuti has therefore volunteered to his interlocutors a statement to the effect that since Mr. Benjamin Hundeyin has already done the investigation and issued and published his report on it, there was no useful purpose to be served by any statement from him. He will, at the right time and place, and in as rigorous a manner possible under the law, defend himself against Mr. Hundeyin’s published ‘investigative findings’.
- The consequence of this for Mr. Seun Kuti was that his wife was refused the “privilege” of delivering a meal to him in the evening of Monday May 15, 2023, even though there was no other arrangement in place to have him fed.
- We await the next move of the Police on the allegation of crime against Mr. Seun Kuti.
