Fast rising Nigerian musicians, Omah Lay and Tems, have been arrested in Uganda. They were apprehended by the Uganda Police in Kampala for flouting the imposed COVID-19 guidelines. The incarceration of the duo is coming after their performance at a concert held at Speke Resort, Wavamunno Rd, Kampala. Both Omah Lay and Tems were arrested alongside the latter’s manager, Muyiwa Awoniyi. This is including the manager of the venue, as well as Prim Kasana, identified as the events manager.
Police officers were also paraded including the officer in charge of the police station in the area. They were arrested for implicit connivance. According to a press release by the Uganda Police, “preliminary investigations indicate that they connived with area police officers who guarded the illegal event.” The statement noted that “all the suspects are detained at Katwe Police Station in Kampala as their files are being processed so they can appear in court.”
The Uganda Police further condemned the act, while concurrently describing the offenders as selfish. They accused them of being “bent on violating the directives on COVID-19 with the purpose of making money while risking the lives of many Ugandans.”
According to one Jide Fayemi, the arrest made by the Uganda Police calls to question the impropriety of the Nigeria Police, and the overall system in Nigeria. In his words, “the arrest of Omah Lay and Tems by the Uganda Police shows that the law is a respecter of no person. This is not what we have seen with the Nigeria Police and judicial system when Naira Marley graced a concert filled with people in the middle of a global pandemic. People were dying as a result, but he (Naira Marley) and some other people went there at the expense of others. That case was swept under the carpet. We only saw a back and forth between him and one other person that said he confused him for Fashola. Can you imagine? Now compare that and what Uganda has done. Doesn’t it speak volumes?”
Nelson Okoh