This story has been in the news for weeks. Initially, when the news stories pointed to Burna Boy as the person who sanctioned armed robbers to steal and beat up Mr. 2Kay in his hotel room, it seemed incredulous. Now that Mr. 2Kay has spoken, and we have more facts including social media messages by Burna Boy to Mr. 2kay threatening implicitly and explicitly criminal assault against Mr. 2Kay, the facts are credible.
Folks, I have said this before on this blog before Burna got to this point. Burna Boy is a hazard to himself and his career. (Burna Boy has a brand reputation problem and he needs to fix it …)
Why do I keep maintaining that Burna is a hazard to himself and his career?
- He lacks the ability to control his emotions. He is very impulsive and often acts before he thinks. This may be a reflection of other underlying issues (mental health issues) and he needs to address this.
- He seems to be surrounded by “yes” men and women. His road manager executed his vision of violence against Mr. 2Kay.
- Burna believes that threatening physical assaults on people is a way to resolve problems. His default position is threats of physical harm to people he disagrees with. This is particularly disturbing because he should know better given his criminal history in the UK which resulted in a 6-7 year ban from entering the UK.
- Burna believes that Nigeria is such an unregulated climate he can get away with actions such as his recent threats and assault against Mr. 2Kay. Hopefully, he is proved wrong.
Let’s be clear about my position on the Mr. 2Kay v. Burna assault case. Burna doesn’t need to have actually physically assaulted Mr. 2Kay to be criminally and legally liable. All of his actions point to being an accomplice, at a minimum, which also gets him criminal culpability under Nigerian criminal law.
NIGERIAN CRIMINAL LAW 101
Nigeria’s modern statute has two key categories of people involved in crimes:
1. The principal offender which consists of four groups:
- Principal: The person who actually commits the crime or makes the omission which constitutes a crime;
- Aider and abettor: The person who does an act or makes the omission for the purpose of enabling the principal offender to commit the crime;
- Enabler: The person who aids another to commit the crime.
- Person who procures or counsels: The person who counsels or procures (induce or prevail on) any other person to commit the crime.
2. The Accomplices which consists of two groups:
- Accomplices: The person who facilitates, solicits, requests, or commands another to commit an offence or incites, abets, and aids in planning for committing the crime.
- Accessory after the fact: A person who knows after the fact that a crime has been committed and helps the offender to escape arrest or punishment.
Let’s look at a synopsis of the facts:
- In October 2017, Burna took to social media to condemn and threaten harm against Nigerian pastors, voicing his deep hate for them as a collective group.
- Mr. 2Kay, in response to his actions, when the media solicited his opinion, said he did not believe that was the best way to go, and threatening violence was wrong.
- Burna saw the interview and specifically threatened Mr. 2Kay with harm directly or through his team via a social media private message.
- Fast-forward months later, Mr. 2Kay is performing at Eko Suites & Hotel. Upon return to his hotel room, he is attacked at gunpoint, beaten and robbed.
- Burna and his team made a grave mistake because they attacked a guest in a hotel, with an international reputation, who have a major vested interest in ensuring that patrons of the hotel are safe.
- The hotel checked its CCTV camera and they saw Burna’s road manager, among other suspects, who were involved in the robbery.
- The hotel contacted the police. The police investigated and issue a statement asking Burna to come down to any local station near him for questioning because the suspects explicit name him as the one who contracted them through his manager to beat up Mr. 2kay. They also say he paid the remnant balance of 50,000 Naira owed to them for their criminal services/acts.
- Burna evades the police request and till date is yet to show up for questioning.
- Mr. 2Kay finally breaks his silence and lets us know what happens, and also explains Burna has been calling to say his manager committed the act but that Burna never authorized his manager to assault and rob Mr. 2Kay.
- In the meantime, Burna’s major concert is now postponed.
To AML industry artists and professionals reading this, Burna should not expect to easily get out of this situation. This is because Burna is no Davido as we saw in the Tagbo case. He is not the son of a billionaire so he can’t easily just have a situation he directly was involved in go away.
Further, Burna has thrown his manager under the bus, but it does not exonerate Burna. If the prosecutor should charge suspects, in this case, it should be the following people, Burna for clearly directly or indirectly causing his manager through his threatening message to assault Mr. 2Kay, Burna’s manager, and the robbers who carried the clearly outlined actions by Burna’s team on Burna’s behalf.
I find no credibility whatsoever in light of Burna’s prior promise of harm to Mr. 2Kay to believe that Burna did not know that his own manager, was carrying out his threats.
If the police have not already, cell phone records of Burna, his manager, and the robbers should be subpoenaed from the telecommunications companies to track communications between all parties prior to and immediately after the attack against Mr. 2Kay.
This is a case of a celebrity who routinely behaves badly and gets away with it, and this time believed he could get bolder with his actions. Hopefully this time he is stopped because if he is not, then he is a danger to all persons who disagree with him and that is a major problem.
-Ms. Uduak
EXHIBITS
Burna’s Boy Threat of Violence Against Pastors
Mr. 2Kay’s Response to Burna Boy’s Statement
Burna Boy’s Threat of Violence to Mr. 2Kay
Picture Post Attack
Police Statement
Mr. 2Kay Speaks Out
Statement by Concert Promoter Postponing Burna Concert
Bavent Street Live, promoters of The Burna Boy Concert Show, scheduled for the 17th Dec. 2017 at the Balmoral Convention centre wish to inform all fans and lovers of Nigeria’s top-most afro-fusion artist, Burna Boy, and our corporate partners and sponsors of a shift in the date of the above-scheduled concert.
This is solely due to the recent allegations levelled against Burna Boy, which are as of now, unfounded and are yet to be proven. Burna Boy and his management are working assiduously within the ambits and requirements of the law to clear his name in these investigations.
He, therefore, needs time to come back and promises an incredible performance for his fans. For now, he needs the time and space to deal with these allegations, which have arisen at such a crucial and sensitive time when he’s working on his album and his concert.
We ask that we respect the time he needs during this challenging period.
The new date for The Burna Boy Show will be communicated in the near future, (all tickets purchased will remain valid, however, you have the option to receive your full refund from the ticketing partners immediately).
We thank all Burna Boy fans, our great partners and sponsors for your continued love, trust and support.