Nigeria – Does Burna Boy have the Right to Detain a Fellow Citizen Indefinitely?

By Jumoke Ogbe

I always thought the right process of the law was to sue and then the merits of the case were dealt with eventually. Apparently, I might have been wrong. In Nigeria, the reverse is the case. The police or law enforcement agencies give preferential treatment to anyone that can afford it. The accused is presumed guilty before the merit of the case is heard.

The Nigerian entertainer Damini Ebunolowa Ogbulu also known as Burna Boy might have taken the laws into his own hands by having the Nigerian police arrest an online critic who posted some lewd pictures of the artist on the internet.

Granted that the pictures and publication must have hurt the image and person of the entertainer a great deal, but isn’t the law to be fully respected here when prosecuting people? Isn’t the right thing to do, charge him to court and grant him the opportunity for bail until a decision is made of the accusation?

Where did Burna Boy derive the right to detain a citizen indefinitely because his feelings got hurt?

This is the main problem with Nigeria where laws are circumvented with abandon. This is the reason why a local government chairman can syphon funds allocated for a project like building of roads for everyone without repercussion. Every little law is circumvented to appease our individual needs instead of keeping our eyes on the bigger picture which is to ensure justice and equity for all. No sane society is run in such a chaotic manner. The obvious result is the chaos that we see in Nigeria every day. Nothing works because the laws are simply ignored, and people are free to take the laws into their own hands.