The embattled Afrobeat singer, Seun Kuti, remanded at the State Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Department, SCIID, Panti, Yaba, Lagos, seemed to have made peace with God as he was crowned ‘General Overseer’ of his cell by the inmates.
He was arrested for assaulting a policeman in uniform and remanded in police custody.
The Saturday Vanguard reports that a copy of the Holy Bible was said to have been handed over to him as an instrument of his office. His appointment as the GO was, however, not without some drama after the inmates initially rejected him. After preliminary interrogations were concluded, Seun was then taken to the cell to join other suspected criminals. It was learned that his first shocker was the hoarse, deep baritone voice of the leader of the inmates, who directed him to keep standing. A few minutes later, a crisis erupted inside the cell as the inmates were said to have rejected him.
The inmates were banging on their metal protective door, asking that Seun be taken out of the cell.
The uproar by the inmates escalated, Seun started negotiating for peace to reign. That was when he noticed that the commotion his presence caused and his rejection by the inmates attracted little or no attention from the police guards.
At that stage, he reportedly promised to dole out N25,000 to them, and he was directed to produce it without delay. He had to beg for the phone to call his wife, who quickly brought the money, which was handed over to their leader. The inmates subsequently accepted Seun and provided a space for him to sit down.
Vanguard also gathered that Seun was so infuriated by the ugly development that played out that he refused to eat the food provided for him, including the food brought by his wife. The hunger strike continued for almost a day and a half until he finally started eating.
The climax of the drama was that the inmates later crowned him the General Overseer of the cell, and a bible was handed over to him. That means that he is presently leading the inmates in prayer sessions whenever the need arises, after which they would all chorus: GO, GO.
When Vanguard visited the Department at Panti around 2:30 pm yesterday, Seun was seen clutching the Bible tightly with his left hand while climbing the stairs leading to the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge, Waheed Ayilara. He was later led down the stairs and back into the cell.
