By Osagie Alonge
When he woke up on Friday, November 23, 2012 popular rapper-show host Kunle ‘Kaboom’ Bello wouldn’t have imagined himself ending the day with a bunch of suspected criminals locked up in a Police cell.
Bello was around his Yaba, Lagos environ hanging with friends at about 11PM when he was picked up by Policemen, placed in a Black Maria and taken to the Sabo Police Station. He was later transferred to the Lagos Task Force division, Alusa, Ikeja, hours later.
All through his arrest and transfer, Kunle Bello tweeted the incident real time, leaving friends and fans quite worried for his safety.
‘So I’ve just been carried with bout 5 of my peoples by the Nigerian Police Force. We dey inside Black Maria and they’ve said nothing‘, @kunlebello tweeted. ‘This Is Nigeria! There you are minding ur own business and the people meant to protect ur life and property will come to arrest U forcefully‘.
He spent the night in detention.
This spurred a multiple reactions from friends and followers, with many condemning the Police and worried for his safety.
‘So police injustice finally struck close to home for the first time 4me. This is how a lot of people have felt in the past. #find @Kunlebello‘, tweeted former Da Trybe band member Timileyin Akinmuda lamented.
If The Governor Of a State With The “Chief Security Officer” Title Does Not Command The Police, Who Does?‘, singer-producer Da Suspect tweeted.
When our reporter finally located where he had been taken to, he was denied access to Mr Bello and was asked by two Police officers Rotimi Idowu and Ologun Theophilus to pay a bribe just to help locate and grant access to the rapper.
Our reporter eventually got hold of Kunle Bello who was found locked up in a makeshift cell (which was actually one of the building offices). Hours later, he was screened and upon producing proper identification was released.
‘I was picked up for no reason‘, KB told NET.
Upon questioning a few officers at the division, they failed to explain why they would pick up individuals without proper investigation but another officer who would rather remain anonymous said ‘we usually carry out raids anytime there is a report of robbery the day before, oga, your friend no dey lucky‘.
Kunle Bello is one of the three members of one of the pioneering Hip-hop group in Nigeria, Trybesmen, along with eLDee and Freestyle.
