Nigerian Afrobeats singer Seun Kuti has been arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer, Lagos police spokesman Benjamin Hundeyin tweeted along with a photo of the musician in handcuffs.
Kuti turned himself in at the headquarters of the Lagos State Police Command after police chief Usman Alkali Baba ordered his detention on Saturday.
He was “captured on video assaulting a police officer in uniform“, the police spokesman added.
Kuti – the son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti – went to the police headquarters on Monday with his lawyer and family representative, Hundeyin added.
Before his arrest, Kuti said on Twitter that the policeman had tried to kill him and his family, but he did not explain how.
He and his lawyer have not commented since his arrest.
Kuti, 40, is the youngest son of Fela Kuti, who drove Afrobeat – a powerful mix of funk and jazz – to global attention in the 1980s.
A charismatic figure and activist who was bitterly critical of Nigeria’s military regimes and corrupt elite, Fela Kuti died in 1997 but retains a fervent following.
His son started playing in his band, Egypt 80, at the age of nine and took the helm when he was 14 after his father died.
In 2019, Kuti and the group were nominated for a Grammy, the top US music award, for their album Black Times in the global music category.
