Why we arrested Timaya – Lagos Police tell Neusroom
The Lagos State Police Command has told Neusroom why it arrested music artiste Timaya Inetimi on Thursday, March 3, 2022.
In footage shared by social media users, armed Police officers were seen leading the singer out of his home in the Lekki area of Lagos, on Thursday morning, with claims that he was arrested for absconding after hitting a lady with his car in Ikate, Lekki, on Wednesday.
Another footage without audio seen by Neusroom also shows the 41-year-old singer making gestures while explaining to the police officers on the street.
This is coming barely five days after Grammy award winner Damini ‘Burna Boy’ Ogulu crashed his Ferrari in a lone accident in Lekki on Saturday.
The Lagos State Police Command spokesperson, Adekunle Ajisebutu, confirmed to Neusroom that Timaya was arrested over an accident.
“He is being investigated for a case of a serious motor accident,” Ajisebutu told Neusroom on Thursday afternoon.
He did not give further details.
Timaya’s arrest is coming a day after one Osinubi Omowunmi accused the singer of hitting her sister in Lekki and absconding after the accident.
Osinubi, in a video shared on Instagram on Wednesday, said her sister was severely injured after the accident.
“These celebrities and how they behave. Timaya nearly killed my sister this morning. He hit her with his car and ran at Ikate a few hours ago.
“He hit my sister’s car, and she came down to ask him to look at what he did. This heartless human was asking for number, and she told him he would block her. Instead of @timayatimaya to do the needful, he hit my sister with his car and ran away,” she said.
“She is at the hospital right now in serious pain, and the funniest part is that I messaged him on Instagram to do the needful, but this wicked fellow blocked me after reading my message.”
Neusroom could not reach Osinubi for comments as her Instagram page was locked.
It does not appear that Timaya was detained by the Police. A few hours after his arrest, he went live on his Instagram page from his home to explain to his over 2 million followers what transpired between him and the accident victim.
In the live Instagram video watched by more than 3,000 people, Timaya, who did not appear distressed, said he rushed out of the scene over the fear of being attacked by a mob and because he didn’t want to be a subject of internet trolling.
“Yesterday I was just driving, the fuel scarcity made the people block the road, so I was just trying to pass and the next thing, I hit a lady’s car. I didn’t even know I did that,” he explained.
“When she stopped my vehicle, I stopped, and she was like I hit her. I told her, ‘can I have your number, madam? I’ll call you, or can we get out of the road because we were blocking the road. The next thing, I saw four guys running down. While trying to move away as I saw the guys running down, she held the side mirror of my car, so that’s how she fell, not that I hit her. When I got back to the house, I told my people to go to the hospital.”
Timaya also claimed he had reached out to his victim’s husband, but the agreement he had with the family is unclear.
