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Tagbo et al: Davido is invited by the Police or arrested? depends on who you are reading.

Following the deaths of three persons with ties to Afro hip-hop artiste, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, news reports have surfaced that the singer has been arrested or invited for interrogation by the Police. Depending on who you are reading, the music artiste has been arrested on account of murder or has been invited for interrogations with regards to his role in the death of his friend, Tagbo Umeike.

This is coming after interim autopsy report surfaced, stating that the victim, Tagbo Umeike, had died of asphyxia or suffocation.

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, Imohimi Edgal, has disclosed that preliminary investigation showed that the late Umeike was rushed to the hospital on Davido’s instruction. The command also revealed that the artiste is being interrogated over the death of his friend, following the discovery that his statements were laced with some lies. The singer reportedly told the investigative team that he was not at Shisha Bar, from where the deceased was rushed and dumped at the Lagos Island General Hospital, claiming that he had left the bar for DNA Night Club in Victoria Island area of the state, where he was when the news of his friend’s death reached him.

As a result of the inconsistency in his statement, the singer was invited for investigations and on Wednesday, he was at the Command headquarters in the company of his lawyer, from where he was moved to Lion Building at about 5pm.

While narrating the circumstances surrounding the case, the Police Commissioner said that the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Lion Building was alerted by the Chief Security Officer of the Lagos Island General Hospital that an unidentified male was brought to the hospital, dead, by two unidentified males in an ash-coloured Toyota Camry car with number plates LSD 738 EL and the victim was identified as Tagbo Umeike from an international passport found in the car when the DPO arrived the scene.

“I called for a meeting with family of the deceased, Davido’s family, Davido, Caroline Danjuma, including the DPO, Lion building, and the investigative team.

“The meeting established that the deceased, Tagbo Umeike, met and had drinks with friends among who was Davido, at Shisha Bar. The bar attendant confirmed that he (deceased) had 40 shots of Tequila and exhibited clear signs of drunkenness.

“The CCTV footage, which I called for, showed that the deceased was quarrelsome and violent in that meeting. Davido confirmed that he left Shisha Bar without the deceased to DNA Night Club and that he was only informed of the victim’s death at the club.

“However, investigation revealed that Davido’s white Toyota Hilux escort driver, Tunde Usutu, accompanied by one Agbeje Olaoye and one Idris Busari, both Davido’s friends, took the deceased to the General Hospital and abandoned him in his vehicle on the instruction of Davido.

“The CCTV footage at the hospital picked the escort vehicle and the entire activity. The vehicle was recovered from Davido’s residence at 7, Awoshika Street, Lekki Phase 1. This completely debunks Davido’s claim that he did not know how the deceased got to the General Hospital.

“The interim autopsy report stated that the victim died of asphyxia, which means suffocation. At the end of this fresh round of investigation, I will tell Lagosians our findings.”

Meanwhile, there is no official statement from the Police that Davido is in custody, or has been arrested yet.

The Vanguard reported the singer’s invitation as arrest. The mostly accurate PremiumTimes however called it an invitation being the word the police used. The Sun newspaper, notorious for deceiving the public into thinking the Kidnapper Evan had escaped, did not disappoint as they titled theirs “Davido, arrested for Murder” even if the police only said he is re-invited because he lied. The mainly Entertainment outfit, Pulse, also reported the invitation as an arrest and Punch was surprisenly not sensation as they called it an invitation.

It is common place in Nigeria for the Police to “invite” the rich for questioning when a crime is linked to them. The meetings often takes place in the office of senior police officers and the fellow is hardly placed under arrest. Poor people however do not get such invitations as they are placed under arrest immediately and even when the Police allows negotiation, it must include a bail.

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