Nigeria: Musician Seun Kuti arrested for assaulting police officer

The Nigerian musician Seun Kuti, son of Afrobeat legend Fela, was placed under arrest on Monday for physically assaulting a police officer, police in Nigeria's Lagos state said.

The police had ordered his arrest on Saturday after a video showing him on a road shouting, pushing and slapping a policeman went viral on social networks.

On Monday morning, Seun Kuti went on his own "to the Lagos State Police Headquarters in Ikeja, accompanied by his lawyer and a representative of his family," police spokesman Benjamin Hundeyin said on his Twitter account.

"He has been placed under arrest in accordance with the law," he said, adding that "the ongoing investigation will be thorough, transparent and professionally conducted.

Seun Kuti is one of the sons of Fela, the king of Afrobeat and a musician of genius who has spent his life denouncing elite corruption, dictatorship and the power of multinationals, using music as a weapon.

Seun started playing in the Fela Kuti Egypt 80 band at the age of nine and took over its leadership when his father died in 1997 when he was just 14.

In 2019, he and his band are nominated for a Grammy Award, the US music awards, in the category of Best World Music Album, with "Black Times".