Assault: Thank God Seun Kuti’s Body Didn’t End Up In Lagoon, Kogi CP Clarifies Statement

CP’s Facebook account hacked – Command

Some Nigerians have been criticising an alleged remark made by the Kogi State Commissioner of Police, Akeem Yusuf, who hinted that the body of Afrobeat musician, Seun Kuti, could have been dumped in the lagoon around Third Mainland Bridge for slapping a policeman in Lagos State.

Yusuf, who goes by the Facebook name, Kimo Akeem, reportedly made the statement in response to a comment on the social media platform about Kuti’s assault on the policeman.

A screenshot of Yusuf’s alleged remark was posted by one Abimbola Adebayo on the platform.

The CP’s alleged post read, “Come and slap police also. Thank God, his (Seun Kuti’s) body was not being looked for in the third mainland bridge waters.”

Angered by his response, Adebayo, after sharing the screenshot of Yusuf’s post alongside his picture and that of the Afrobeat musician, criticized Yusuf’s remark.

She also noted that the statement made her flashback on the time a policeman threatened to shoot and throw her into the lagoon.

Her statement read in part, “Why the Nigeria Police Force needs to answer this statement by one of their own. He said Seun Kuti was lucky he was not thrown into the lagoon.

“The officer who made this troubling statement is Yusuf Akeem, who goes by the moniker, Kimo Akeem and he’s Kogi State Commissioner of Police. You should know he knows more if this statement came out of his mouth.”

Another Facebook user, Malik Abdulmalik, while condemning Yusuf’s statement, said it was a pointer to the allegation of extrajudicial killings levelled against men of the Nigeria Police Force.

His post read, “Akeem Yusuf, who goes by the moniker, Kimo Akeem is the Commissioner of Police, Kogi State. His statement tells you everything you need to know about police and their many extrajudicial murders.

“Sometimes, the many missing person cases you read on the news are people murdered or kidnapped by police officers.”

Also commenting on the development, another Facebook user, Basil Ezeunegbu, said the alleged remark by Yusuf stands condemned.

The post read in part, “The retort allegedly by the CCP is horrendous and a tacit approval of extrajudicial killing by the Nigeria Police over a minor skirmish. For such to purportedly emanate from a senior officer, if it were verified to be true, is unequivocally condemned and signifies the likelihood of his condoning of murder. The lessons of Anti-SARS riots are yet to sink into some officers.”

Contacted for a reaction on Monday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, William Aya, said Yusuf’s Facebook account was hacked but did not deny that the CP owned the account.

His statement read, “The attention of the Commissioner of Police, Kogi State, Akeem Yusuf, has been drawn to the news making the rounds on social media credited to his personality on the alleged assault on a police officer by Seun Kuti, “Thank God Seun Kuti’s body didn’t end up in the lagoon.

“The statement is fake and misleading with the aim to tarnish the image and reputation of the CP. It is incumbent to let the public know that the Facebook account has been hacked since September 2022, and he has several times warned people to disregard any message from that account.

“This is the handwork of mischievous people who are bent on giving the police a bad name. The general public is enjoined to discountenance such misleading information which does not in any way portray the true identity of the personality of the CP.” 

– The PUNCH