Nobody wants to be arrested and spend time in prison, but it happens for a variety of reasons. Sometimes those individuals also happen to be Nigerian musicians.
We’ll be listing the top Nigerian pop stars who were detained abroad and explaining their arrests today.
Tems
Tems and fellow musician Omah Lay were both detained by Ugandan police in Kampala in December 2020 for breaking COVID-19 regulations. Shortly after their performance on Saturday night at The Big Brunch, a concert held at Speke Resort, Wavamunno Rd, Kampala, they were taken into custody. After two days in police custody and a court appearance, they were freed on Thursday, December 17 and flew back to Nigeria.
Larry Gaaga
Larry Gaaga is a music executive and record producer who was detained abroad as well. When discussing his difficult connection with his father in an interview with music journalist Joey Akan, Larry Gaaga disclosed that he had been detained in Ivory Coast for using a fraudulent passport.
He said;
I’m a first child. My dad, when he started making money, he spent a lot on me to go to school. But he was confused too. Today it’s about being a doctor. Tomorrow, it’s the lawyer. You know how parents can be. All my life, I wanted to travel. I even made some moves that got me arrested and jailed. Where’s Ivory Coast again?
They locked me up. Some Ibadan boys sold me a fake EEC passport. I was moving with my friends. We’ve done different things to get out of the country, thinking, if you’re in London or America, you’ve made it. He wanted and expected a lot from me. He was disappointed in me. No matter what I studied, I just wanted to have a certificate. I followed my uncle’s advice but it wasn’t what my father wanted. Today, he’s a happy man.
Dammy Krane
Dammy Krane, a Nigerian singer, was detained on June 2 in Florida on suspicion of fraud, credit card fraud, and theft. Dammy was accused by an American jet firm, Tapjets, of attempting to book a private jet with them while using five different credit cards that did not belong to him.
He later satisfied the $7,500 bail requirements and was let out of his Miami jail. He entered a not guilty plea and pleaded for a jury trial.
All allegations against Dammy, including credit card fraud, armed conspiracy, and grand theft, were dismissed by the American court in August 2017.
Sauce Kid
Babalola Falemi, a Nigerian rapper better known by his stage name Sauce Kid, was apprehended in an American jail for stealing $15,388. At the Boise Airport in Idaho, USA, where he was trying to catch a flight, the American police caught up with him. He was charged with eight counts of bank fraud, eight counts of aggravated identity theft, and possession of 15 or more fraudulent bank cards. He was also accused of conspiring to commit bank fraud. According to the police, Sauce Kid was found in possession of a card-encoding device and about $6,000 in cash at the time of his arrest. He received a two-year prison term.
Naira Marley
Nigerian musician Naira Marley was famously arrested in 2019 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). But according to the “Soapy” singer, that wasn’t the first time he was getting arrested. Naira Marley said:
Lemme tell you, you don’t nothing about me, I have been arrested 124 times in England.
