NDLEA Set To Probe Davido Over Drugs

Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency has set up
a panel to investigate a music video released by
Nigerian artiste, Davido, in which he displayed a
substance suspected to be hard drugs.
The video of his track entitled, ‘Fans mi’, in which
he featured an American rapper and member of the
Maybach Group, Meek Mill, showed Davido with a
briefcase filled with dollars and another bag filled
with parcels of a substance suspected to be hard
drugs.
The Director of Public Affairs of the NDLEA, Mr.
Mitchell Ofoyeju, told SUNDAY PUNCH on Saturday
that the investigative panel might invite the hip-
hop artiste for questioning if the need arose.
He said, “I am aware that a panel is working on it
(the video). The panel was set up soon after the
video was released few weeks ago.
“When our attention was drawn to it, we viewed it
and we discovered that it was improper. There is
no moral lesson in it and he was just advertising
drug trafficking.
“In the video, he exchanged a brief case
supposedly containing narcotics for dollars. He
was displaying affluence in the video. If it (the plot)
had climaxed in an arrest and possible detention,
we would have congratulated him for partnering
with us. But the way he portrayed drug trafficking
in the video was a means to an end, which the end
is a life of affluence which we disagree with.”
Ofoyeju said the anti-drug agency would conduct a
full-scale investigation into the making of the video
and to confirm whether it was censored before its
release.
The NDLEA spokesperson further said, “We are
looking at the issue holistically. We believe that
there should be a body that was supposed to
censor videos before they go out. Those are the
things we want to investigate and verify. Was the
video submitted for approval? If it was submitted,
why was it approved, with such content?”
NDLEA had in June 2013 said controversial
Nigerian actress, Tonto Dikeh, risked a minimum of
15 years in jail for encouraging the consumption of
hemp.
Dikeh had on June 28, 2013, posted photographs
of a wrap of hemp and grains of the weed formed
into the letters, ‘Happy birthday POKO.’
She also posted a photograph of herself and added
the inscription, ‘Mi smoke ganja mi smoke weed
while my hatez smoke ma gossip.’
Her picture is a close-up of her face that seemed
to depict her in a high state.
As a result, the agency said it was keeping tabs on
more celebrities in Nollywood and the music
industry for drug trafficking, abuse and links with
drug cartels.