‘Burna Boy laughed as his friend attacked me’ — lady breaks silence on club shooting

Neme Briella, the lady said to have been approached by Burna Boy at Club Cubana in Lagos, has broken her silence on the shooting that occurred on June 8.

The Grammy-winning Afrobeats megastar has been in the news since the reports of the alleged shooting of two fun-seekers by his police escort at the club situated in Victoria Island surfaced online.

One of Burna Boy’s police escorts was said to have opened fire on Irebami Lawrence and Tolu, his friend.

The shooting was said to have occurred after the singer allegedly made a pass at a lady said to be Lawrence’s wife.

In a series of posts on her Instagram stories, Briella, who is a UK-based Nigerian, disclosed that she’s the lady involved in the incident. She also shared her side of the story.

The lady said she was visiting Nigeria from London for a friend’s wedding when they decided to hang out at the club after the ceremony.

Briella said they were having fun in the VIP section when a man approached her to talk on Burna Boy’s behalf.

She said she refused the singer’s advances while informing him that she is married — in what appeared to have triggered an altercation.

Briella also alleged that the singer’s security team started opening fire at them after getting “what looked like a signal from Burna Boy”.

She added that her partner and a friend eventually got hit in the process.

Briella also claimed she was physically attacked by the singer’s friend during the fight after their private security was not allowed inside the club.

She alleged that all through the incident, Burna Boy “laughed and proceeded to his car”.

Below is her lengthy narration:

“We were visiting Nigeria from America and London for our childhood friends. On the 8th of June, 2022 Burna Boy and his friends opened fire at us in @cubanalagos,” she wrote.

“My partner and his friend were shot, with both needing urgent medical care. A bullet grazed my partner’s head and our friend was shot in the thigh, leaving him hospitalized and needing emergency surgery in Nigeria.”

“Around 3am, I went to the Cubana club with my friends. We were there for couple of hours celebrating the newly weds. Burna Boy and his friends came in, we were still having fun. As the night progressed, one of Burna Boy’s friends walked to talk to me, his request was for Burna Boy to talk to me.

“On the first attempt, I told him I wasn’t interested in talking to Burna Boy and I’m married to my partner. He came the second time,  third time and that caused a few of our friends to flare up as they ask why he kept coming to disturb me.

“They were words back and forth and one of Burna Boy’s friend attacked one of our friends, as they attacked him the situation degenerated into a fight.

“As the first fight started the security at Cubana stepped in and were able to calm the issue, as that happened everybody was slowly going back to their section when two of Burna Boy’s friends started another fight and the security at Cubana jumped in again.

“As they were fighting, Burna Boy’s friend started shooting after what looked like signal from Burna Boy. At this point, the club was in chaos, everyone was screaming and trying to vacate the premises.

“At this point I could find my partner or bestfriend. I was screaming for help after being lifted and thrown hard in the floor by Burna’s friend and hurt my left shoulder. All our private police were not allowed into the club, so it was left to us to fight for our lives.

“One of friends was trying to get Burna Boy to calm the situation but he laughed at him and proceeded to get in his whilst being protected by his security.

“Even after leaving the club to safety outside, or at least I thought I was safe. The same man that initially approached me on behalf of Burna boy saw me and said ‘oh you’re the one that was doing shakara Abi’, then reached into his bottoms to get something resembling a gun.

“Luckily at this point, my friends found me and pulled me away just in. He retracted and got into a car and left.

“@obi_cubana only reached out to us 4 DAYS after the event claiming he had no idea and would do everything to get us justice for attempted murder.

“11 days later, there has been no CCTV footage real eased by the club OR even a statement to address the incident publicly. Business has carried on as usual for him.

“To sum things up I’m traumatised. I’ve broken down everyday since then. The random flashbacks and nightmares.

“Especially after seeing @burnaboygram response. The lack of remorse or accountability is beyond me. At least 2 people could’ve died that night.”

Usman Alkali Baba, the inspector-general of police (IGP), earlier condemned the incident and ordered a probe into the shooting.

The police further revealed that the force would interrogate the ‘African Giant’ crooner.

Burna Boy recently said he is not shocked by the various social media reports linking him to the shooting.