UK-based Nigerian singer, Seun Oluyole, a k.a. Sean Dampte won’t forget in a hurry his encounter with some men of the Nigerian Police Force on April 2023 as he describes the experience as “scary”. The video of the experience has since gone viral on social media but it has left a bitter taste on the singer who was hugely disappointed.
“Our officers don’t always behave in a way that inspires trust or confidence in their capacity to serve and protect the Nigerian citizens,” Sean Dampte said. “Getting a developed Nigeria, making Nigeria great again starts with each one of us doing our bit. Yes, from the citizens to law enforcement to our politicians.”
From the video which was made by his team, Dampte and four other artists, were in a convoy of three cars, on their way to Landmark Beach at Oniru on Friday, April 14, 2023, when they were stopped by police officers.
Instead of asking for the identities of the occupants of the cars, they were angrily ordered to come down from the vehicles and were searched. With nothing found on them, the vehicle was also searched, ending with the discovery of an art knife Dampte had bought in Kenya during his Africa Tour 2023, in preparation for his London concert scheduled for September this year.
When the musician asked the officer to tell him why they were being stopped, the police officer became livid and threatened to put them in jail. When one of his team members wanted to make a call to an undisclosed individual, the angry officer started, accusing Nigerian youths of blaming the police for complicity in the acclaimed unfair election general election.
The officer continued to shout and warned the musicians that more powerful Nigerians than Dampte were in jail and nothing would stop him from seeing them end up in jail, and that no amount of begging, while inside the four walls, would set them free.
Eventually, the musicians were allowed to go their way, while the knife, even with a receipt, was seized.
The artist who had just concluded his Eastern and Southern African tours, visiting Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe is preparing for the Ghanaian Tour as part of his West African tour as well as his upcoming album.
