Afrobeat musician Seun Kuti will spend a few more days in police custody as the Chief Magistrate who was supposed to hear his case Tuesday was absent.
Today’s hearing would have enabled Mr. Kuti to walk on bail, but the Magistrate was said to have gone on training course and besides, Mr. Kuti’s bail was yet to get ‘administrative approval,’ according to his lawyer Adeyinka Fusika SAN.
Kuti has been in police detention since May 16 after he surrendered himself to the police after he was declared wanted by the Inspector General after a video of him slapping and harassing a policeman on the Third Mainland Bridge went viral on social media.
The presiding Magistrate Adeola Olatunbosun had granted him bail, but the police requested for the extension of his detention period to investigate the case further more. The 48 hours granted the police by the Magistrate expired Thursday last week, but Kuti is still behind bars.
“The court, as you will recall, had ordered that the prosecution of the case must be by the DPP’s office and not by the police, hence, the police were also ordered to send the case file to the DPP for evaluation and decision as to prosecution.
“The court was, therefore, to sit today to receive the DPP’s advice, but did not because, as we’re informed, the magistrate is attending a training course,” Fusika told the Punch.
He hinted that the police are foot dragging on their investigations.
