Nigerian musicians, Omah Lay, Ms Tems, arrested in Uganda

Nigerian artistes, Omah Lay and Ms Tems, have been arrested by officers of the Uganda police in Kampala for flouting covid-19 guidelines.

They were arrested shortly after their performance on Saturday night at The Big Brunch, a concert that held at Speke Resort, Wavamunno Rd, Kampala.

Luk Owoyesigyire, Assistant Superintendent of Police and Deputy Police Spokesperson, Kampala Metropolitan Police, confirmed their arrest on Twitter on Sunday.

Mr Owoyesigyire also announced that Dungu Ivan, the manager of the venue where the musicians performed, and the events manager, Prim Kasana, were also in their custody. Ms Tems’s manager, Muyiwa Awomiyi, was also arrested.

Three police officers including the area officer in charge of the police station in the area were also arrested.

The policemen were arrested for failing to detect the criminal acts that took place in their area of jurisdiction, the police said.

In their statement, the Ugandan police alleged that the organisers of the concert first held lunch and dinner events, but later on at night started inviting artistes to perform.

‘‘Preliminary investigations indicate that they connived with area police officers, who guarded the illegal event.

The arrested officers and three others still at large are also being investigated for disobeying lawful orders.

All the suspects are detained at Katwe Police Station in Kampala as their files are being processed so that they can appear in court,’’ their statement partly read.

They also stated that the suspects are being charged with doing “acts that are likely to cause the spread of infectious disease Covid-19”.

Following the outbreak of coronavirus in Uganda, the country’s Ministry of Health issued guidelines suspending concerts attended by revellers in order to stop the spread of the deadly virus.

The guidelines still stand.

The Ugandan police also condemned the acts of the suspects who they described as selfish individuals ‘‘bent on violating the directives on COVID-19 with the purpose of making money while risking the lives of many Ugandans.”

The show held at a time when political rallies of more than 200 people and churches in Uganda were restricted to 100 people.

Ugandan artistes and citizens have condemned the widely promoted concert which had more than 1000 people in attendance.

Omah Lay is popular for his hits ‘You’, ‘Lolo’, ‘Damn’, ‘Bad influence’ and a lot more. Ms Tems, on the other hand, is behind the singles ‘Looku Looku’, ‘Mr. Rebel’, and the viral hit ‘Try Me’.