Celebrated juju musician, Yomi
Peters, whose latest album, Igbeyawo, is ruling the airwaves, has come out to
explain what really happened the night his elder brother afrojuju musician, Sir
Shina Peters, alleged him to be an armed robber.
The allegation was back in 1998, and
now, 18 years after the incident, which has caused a long on/off feud between
the brothers, Yomi has spoken about it again so as to clear his name once and
for all as armed robbery allegations continue to trail him.
According to him, on the said
night, he had gone to see Shina at his Iju Station, Lagos home to resolve some
family matters because the wife of his immediate elder brother, Gbenga, had come
to see him during a show at Heritage Garden, Isolo, Lagos, to complain that “my
brother, Shina, had driven her out of the house she was staying with four
children because her husband stayed back in America and didn’t follow her back
to Nigeria. And the accommodation in question was Brother Gbenga’s share of our
father’s properties.”
So he promised her to go and see
Shina to resolve the issue.n the day he went to Shina’s house,
it was around 7pm and he met the gateman, who knew him and greeted him. He
asked and was told his brother was at home. However, the gateman did not open
the gate for him but requested he get clearance Shina. After about 30 minutes
without any response, Yomi, who got someone to drive him down, said he knocked
the gate again.
“I wanted to ask the security
that whether my brother said he should not open the gate for us,” said Yomi. “The
guy that drove me there was telling me, ‘Let’s go. I don’t think this is your
brother’s house.’ I said, ‘don’t worry. Maybe he is sleeping and they’re trying
to tell him.’”
Both men were waiting when they
started hearing shouts of thief, thief. “We heard ole, ole (thief, thief) from
the house . And the person that took me to the place is telling me, let’s go. E
bi like say they are shouting armed robber on you. I said no, no, no. I was
scared maybe, there is armed robber there (in Shina Peters’ house), maybe
something is happening. My brother’s house, since he built the house has electric
fence. So you cannot climb it. How are you going to climb light wire? So
definitely, climbing the fence is a lie. I just climbed the flower (bed) to
open the security house to see what is going on inside because I didn’t think
it was me they were calling an armed robber. So when I tried to open it, I saw
my brother with short knicker with (his) wife. And before I know it, he has
called police.
“So, I said, ‘ah, my brother, is
it me that you are calling armed robber?’ And police came from Oko-Oba Police
Station. They said, ‘everybody stand up.’ And they saw me, they saw the second
guy, they looked at us, no gun, no anything and my brother now opened the gate.
When he opened the gate, it was that time I know what is going on. And Sammy,
his wife, said they are 20 in number, that the rest armed robber have run
away.”
Upon discovering that he and
Shina were blood brothers, the police said, “This is family matter.”
He added that “the situation on
the day was chaotic and if not that I was also well-known in the area, they
could have killed us.”
Following the initial episode,
Yomi said he entered the house and confronted Shina over the allegation of
armed robbery.
“I was so mad,” he said. “I
started fighting with him but some people said I should leave him.”
Yomi said that, while he and his
brother were slugging it out, his brother’s wife locked the gate and unknown to
him, went to call another set of police. This time, the police called Yomi an
armed robber and said he should follow him to the police station in their
vehicle. But Yomi said he resisted following them in their vehicle, telling the
police, “the person that said I’m armed robber is supposed to follow us. He’s
the one that’s supposed to write statement. He’s the one that called police.”
Yomi said it was later agreed
that he and the driver that brought him should drive behind the police as well as
Shina. However, he claimed Shina diverted and never reached the station.
“When we got to the junction,
police station is by the right. The police took right, I followed them. My
brother followed left and ran away but we didn’t know. When we got to police
station, the complainant, we didn’t see him. At the end of the day, the police
say ‘they will lock me.’ I said it’s better because I don’t know what to write
because I don’t know what is happening. Unless I see the complainant, I can’t
write anything. So, they said I should go. I said ‘I can’t go because if I go,
I don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. At the end of the day, they
(police) said they are going to lock me up. So they locked me and that guy
(driver). They seized the car of that guy.
“So, when they locked us, early
in the morning, the first paper (newspaper), the DPO or somebody in the station
brought the paper. It (headline) said ‘Yomi Peters with armed robbery gang
invade Shina Peters’ house.’ Front page. All the papers, not inside, but front
page. Within that night and morning.”
Yomi said Shina wanted to settle
the matter the next day.
“He sent one of his fans, Tunde
Adaba, on the second day, that he should come and tell them (police) that I am not
(an) armed robber.”
But the police were adamant and
said nothing could be done until Shina came himself.
“So they (police) locked Tunde
Adaba.”
Yomi said Adaba’s wife now went to
cause a scene at Shina’s house over the detention of her husband. It was not
until the third day that Yomi said the police asked him to go.
“And I told them I can’t go.”
He said that on the third day,
Shina peters came to the police station with an ex-police commissioner who
pleaded with him.
“The man called me and used Bible
to preach to me. He used Koran too. And I asked him one question. If the man is
still alive, he would still remember. I asked him: ‘Am I an armed robber?’ He
said, ‘Let’s forget it.’
He added that Shina asked the
police to make him sign an undertaking that he, Yomi, “would never enter his
house again.”
Yomi recalled signing the
undertaking after saying “if that is what you want.”
Though Yomi said a lot of people
prevailed on him to settle the rift and his brother called him after the
incident and said it was over. And after a first visit, decided not to go
again, especially after he was reminded that he had signed an undertaking not
to go there again.
“So that day, I just wanted to
please people but I saw that pleasing people can get me into trouble.So since
that time, I’ve never entered his house.”omi sojourned to the United
States shortly after the armed robbery allegation incident but has since
returned to Nigeria to resume his music in the country said he is not
‘fighting’ with his brother, Sir Shina Peters.
Rather, he’s just trying to clear
his name as the allegation still trails him.
No comments:
Post a Comment