Police are biggest group of kidnappers in Nigeria, Seun Kuti claims

Seun Kuti, the Afrobeat singer, has alleged that police officers are the major perpetrators of kidnapping in Nigeria.

Last year, Seun was apprehended after he was filmed assaulting a police officer on the Third Mainland Bridge.

The singer was later remanded at the state criminal investigation department (SCID) in Panti, Yaba.

Recounting his ordeal in police custody in a recent Instagram live session, Seun said he was detained in cell one with “hardened criminals”.

The music star alleged that “there were police in all the kidnapping groups inside cell 1 with me”.

He further argued that the “biggest group of kidnappers in Nigeria are the police”.

Seun described kidnapping as being seized against one’s will and asking to be freed in exchange for money.

The 41-year-old singer likened “police bail to the ransom payments usually demanded by kidnappers”.

He argued that if people are forced to pay for their release, they are being kidnapped by the police.

“When the Nigerian police put me in cell 1 Panti they thought they did me bad but now I can expose the things I found out inside the cell,” he said.

“I found out that all the kidnapping groups inside cell 1 with me get police inside. In fact, the police is their ringleader.

“There is no group of kidnappers inside the cell with me without a police member that was arrested. It is either the police have been arrested or they are still trying to find them.

“All of us were inside the cell together. The biggest group of kidnappers in Nigeria are the Nigerian police.

“What does it mean to be kidnapped? Somebody carries you against your will and someone else pays money to release you.

“Kidnappers call their payment ransom but police call their bail. Bail is only official and it is free, you should not pay for bail. So anytime you give the police money, that is not bail that is ransom.”