By Yūsuf Akínpẹ̀lúBBC Information, Lagos
Followers mourning Afrobeats star MohBad have been sprayed with tear gasoline within the Nigerian metropolis of Lagos as police mentioned they blocked site visitors on a fundamental freeway.
That they had gathered on the Lekki toll gate after a memorial live performance in honor of the 27-year-old singer, who died final week in a Lagos hospital.
There was an outpouring of grief for the musician and requires the reason for his dying to be made public.
Authorities in Lagos exhumed his physique as a part of an investigation.
The live performance in tribute to MohBad, whose actual identify is Ilerioluwa Aloba, came about on Thursday night in a park on Victoria Island in Lagos.
Many mourners wore white T-shirts and held candles or cellphone torches aloft as they danced to songs by the late artist, beloved for his streetwise, typically lewd lyrics and vocals. distinctive baritone.
Music stars like Davido, Falz and Zlatan in addition to Nollywood film celebrities shared their recollections of the singer with the viewers.
The hashtag #justiceformohbad has been trending on social media since MohBad’s dying – with some angered by solutions he was bullied inside the music trade since his fallout final yr with Marlian Data , a label owned by musician Naira Marley.
Protests came about in cities throughout southern Nigeriatogether with his followers eager to know the way he died – prompting the Lagos state governor to launch an investigation involving the nation’s secret police.
After the transferring memorial live performance in Lagos, mourners marched to the Lekki Toll Gate to proceed their vigil.
For a lot of, their dispersal utilizing tear gasoline recalled the infamous incident in October 2020, when armed forces shot and killed protesters in the identical location. An investigation discovered that 9 folks have been killed, 4 lacking, presumed useless, and 35 others injured, lots of them shot.
At the moment, tens of hundreds of Nigerians have been protesting throughout the nation demanding the disbandment of the notorious Particular Anti-Theft Squad (Sars) police unit, a motion that turned referred to as #EndSars.
After tear gasoline was thrown at MohBad supporters, Lagos police have been fast to dismiss any comparability, saying mourners had ignored the discover that the world across the Lekki-Epe Expressway was off-limits.
Requires a number of hours by police and vigil organizers for folks to disperse have been ignored, police spokesman Benjamin Hundeyin mentioned. in a sequence of tweets.
“At this level, all lanes getting into and exiting Lekki had been completely blocked. Vehicular motion on the all the time busy freeway had been completely paralyzed,” he mentioned.
“Not a single reside bullet was fired. Police adopted greatest crowd administration practices to confront the unruly crowd. No lives have been misplaced and no accidents have been reported.”
Earlier, the police spokesperson had tweeted that MohBad’s autopsy had been accomplished.
However officers say it might be a number of weeks earlier than the post-mortem report is prepared.
