For breaching public decency by conveying half naked girls in Lekki traffic, the Federal Government has vowed to read the Riot Act to popular musician, Augustine Kelechi, aka Tekno and his video producer, Lawal Tijani, following the Afro-pop star’s release of the controversial music video of “Agege” in-spite of an on-going investigation.
The “Pana” singer had previously been arrested and granted bail on health grounds. This came after a public outcry against a viral video in which the singer was seen dancing with semi-nude women in a transparent van along Lekki-Ikoyi link Bridge in Lagos.
In a statement Sunday, the Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture, a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Segun Runsewe said: “We commend the [Lagos] police for arresting Tekno for the shameful misconduct. The same person, who was granted bail on health grounds has gone ahead to release the controversial video. We are now warning him to desist from this shameful conduct, which is not part of our culture.
“No single person is bigger than Nigeria; whether he likes it or not, we are going to use him as a scapegoat to send strong signals that this government does not tolerate nonsense and immorality, but discipline, which is our moral principle. Since the offensive Tekno scam video came to the limelight, I have received hundreds of telephone calls and SMS from Nigerians at home and others in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and other parts of the world querying why such anomalies would be tolerated in Nigeria.
“Now that he has released the shameful video when investigation is still ongoing, we are going to inform security agencies to place him on their watch list, because his action is a threat to national security and a bad influence on Nigerian youths. We are committed to exposing proponents of this kind of offensive sights and videos. We warn that nudity is not part of our culture and should not be tolerated. The Federal Government will henceforth fish out clubs for nude dancers across the country for their promoters to face prosecution.”
Tekno had last week conveyed half naked girls, who were dancing seductively in a transparent glass box on a truck around the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge. In the truck, the musician was seen spraying the scantily dressed girls with money as they danced. Following public outcry it generated, Tijani and Tekno had earlier apologized to Nigerians for the act. In his defence, Tekno said he merely used the truck to convey his crew to a location for a shoot, which was not intended to breach public decency.
The video clip, which had gone viral on social media, was said to be part of a scene from Tekno’s unreleased video, titled Agege, featuring musician, Zlatan Ibile. It was also gathered that the owner of the display truck was also arrested. Confirming the arrest, the state police spokesman, Bala Elkana, said Tekno was invited for questioning at the state Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti, Yaba for several hours before being granted administrative bail on health grounds. “The command has arrested Tekno and two girls for conveying half naked girls at the Lekki area of Lagos. He is presently undergoing questioning at the state Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti,” he said.
The police said such acts of public indecency is against the criminal code and if after investigation those involved are found guilty, they would be charged to court. The act is said to be in contravention of Section 136 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, which provides that any person who commits any act of gross indecency with another person in public commits an offence and liable on conviction to three years imprisonment. Already, the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA) suspended the advertising firm, Pro-Vision Media Systems Ltd. However, the firm claimed it had sold the vehicle since last year and could not bear any liability.
