N16m fraud:Mandators loses N200m after police storm venue, make arrest

Nigerian reggae artiste, Victor Essiet better known as the Mandators who was recently arrested by the police for N16million, has refuted the allegation.

Essiet said the police invaded the National Stadium, venue of the “Africa Meets Reggae International Music Festival,” brutalised him before taking him to Ikeja where he was detained for three days.

He added: “It came to me as a shock that in the 80s, I released an album titled ‘Rat Race’ which was   a fall out of the despotism exhibited by the then military regime.

The action of the police who handcuffed and battered me without showing me a warrant of arrest was unwholesome, a misnomer and despotic in relation to ethos and ethics of a democratic entity like ours whose caption is ‘Justice and Freedom for All’”

He said it was disheartening that in this 21st century, police could brazenly invade a venue with armed men simply to arrest him.

“As an international artiste with a fan base of over 100 million worldwide, and a person whose songs were liberation and freedom oriented and to be unjustly treated is evil. Remember I sang to that effect for the emancipation of the human mind, body and soul with other comrades and Rastafarians; we sang to liberate South Africa from apartheid regime of the Botha and P W De Clerks of this world.

“It is unfortunate that I was invaded and dehumanized by the Nigeria police simply because of a business transaction between me and a beneficiary of my goodwill without inviting me officially.

" I invested over N200 million  in the show that flopped because stories went round that SARS police were everywhere to arrest armed robbers and those stories scared would-be attendees to scamper for safety, thereby totally avoiding coming near the venue.   

I cry for this country. Nigeria is a great country if creative leaders could build institutions that will outlast generations.

"I want to use this opportunity to tell the whole world that I did not dupe anybody as reported in the media and different blogs that are presently trending false stories againsty me but this individual actually benefited from my goodwill.