Seun Kuti reacts to planned closure of Afrika Shrine over meeting on #EndSARS

Afrobeat singer, Seun Kuti, the son of legendary creator of the music genre, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, has reacted to threats by the Lagos State Police Command to close down the Afrika Shrine after he announced a proposed meeting of like minds to evaluate the impacts and lessons garnered from the recent #EndSARS protests that rocked the nation last month.

The proposed meeting which was to hold today, Tuesday, November 17, has been canceled after the police sent a letter to the Kuti family warning him not to hold the programme or the Afrika Shrine would be closed down.

Reacting to the threat, Seun revealed that the police invited his elder sister, Yeni Kuti, and warned her that should the programme go ahead as planned, the Shrine would be closed down.

In the letter, the police insisted that the programme was illegal and was not welcomed in the state as it was a “deliberate act of sabotaging peace in the state.”

Citing the violence that arose as a result of the #EndSARS protests as the reason behind the order, the letter from the police reads in part:

“It is on this premise that I write that such a gathering or meeting planned to be hosted at your venue is not welcome at this perilous time when the security of the nation is trying to find her feet to stabilize all threat to life and properties.

Read also: Nigeria’s underdevelopment tied to wealth of our elites —Seun Kuti

“You are hereby warned to suspend such gathering as any infraction that may emerge from this gathering will be tagged a deliberate action to sabotage the transition and restoration of the peace in Lagos State by the Lagos State Government and the Nigeria Police Force.”

However, Seun who posted the letter on his Twitter handle, @RealSeunKuti, wondered why the police and the Lagos State government would threaten to close down the event center over a harmless meeting.

Seun who also posted on his Instagram page on Monday night, however, accepted the government’s position, saying his respect for his family is the reason he is backing down on the meeting but wondered why the government is afraid of such gatherings.

This is what he wrote on his Instagram page:

”So yesterday, the government called my eldest sister, @yeniakuti, and threatened to close the shrine if I hold my event there tomorrow and also sent a letter to back it up. I respect my family’s decision not to hold the event but I will still go ahead with all the other organizations to launch ‘THE MOVEMENT OF THE PEOPLE’ tomorrow and start our political resistance to the tyranny of this oppressive regime.

“This is a meeting, just a meeting of organizations and they are basically banning the right of association. Why are they afraid of the people organising?

“What is democratic about this act? The last time we tried to launch, the government quickly called curfew and this time, they have used threats but you can’t stop the will of the people. #getthesax #liberationgeneration #wenodoagain #endoppression.”’

 

---

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now