Two women Susan and Helen appeared in a viral video that trended on social media last week claiming that, the popular Nigerian artist, David Adeleke, AKA Davido impregnated and abandoned one of them after her pregnancy.
However, Davido denied having anything to do with the girls on his social media account and threatened to arrest and send them to detention at kirikiri prison.
Accordingly, Davido carried out his threat of arresting the two women.
Adeleke threatened to sue them for N30 billion which they will have to produce or risk their freedom and go to kirikiri prison and lean their lesson.
He also placed a N1 million bounty on their head asking his followers to go after them and teach them a lesson.
The women subsequently posted two videos apologising to Mr. Adeleke and claiming that none of them was impregnated by him.
Adeleke did not acknowledge their apology, instead on Tuesday afternoon, a video showing Susan and Helen in handcuffs surfaced on social media. The footage was taken at the ladies’ apartment in Lagos, and it showed them being threatened by a man whose voice was in the background.
It was not clear whether the voice of the man heard threatening the women was that of a police officer or a private individual. The video was first posted on Instagram by ‘Special Spesh’, an associate of Mr. Adeleke’s.
This comes as the police in Lagos said they did not know about the arrest and suggested that Mr. Adeleke might have taken the laws into his hands.
However, some group amongst his followers berated Adeleke for abusing women and even went to the extent of calling them “idiots” expressed their dissatisfaction over this his behaviour. They opined that if Adeleke is aggrieved over their claim, he can sue for defamation of character but not take the law into his hand.
They sighted that Adeleke on several Instagram posts has accused President Buhari for abuse of powers vested on him by the constitution, but why is Adeleke using his influence to dehumanise these women? When there is a law and procedure he can follow.
Even though the women have been released, their arrests highlight the continued use of state agents as a tool of oppression by the powerful, especially coming after Mr. Adeleke’s threat.
The Nigerian Constitution guarantees rights to free speech, but there are also statutes that address defamation of character.
Rights advocates who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES about the arrest said Mr. Adeleke had no powers beyond filing defamation lawsuit against the women.
Several commentators on social media said it was unfortunate that Mr. Adeleke would unleash terror on two women for allegedly defaming him at a time citizens are condemning federal authorities for arresting journalists and bloggers over articles critical of persons in power.
