Nigerian artistes Stanley Omah Didia popularly known as Omah Lay and Temilade Openyi also known as Tems, were on Monday, December 14 arrested in Uganda for flouting COVID-19 .
The two had had a successful event on the 12th December 2020 in the country however the Ugandan government raised concern about the safety of their citizens who attended the event and failed to adhere to the set rules and regulations of Covid-19 that included wearing masks and maintaining social distance.
According to a police statement published on their Twitter account, Omah Lay, Tems, and Omah Lay’s manager, Muyiwa Awomiyi were all charged with negligently doing acts likely to spread an infectious disease which is a criminal offense in accordance with the Ugandan constitution. Following their arrest, they were remanded in prison custody and are set to appear before a Ugandan High court on Wednesday, 16 December.
The trio is facing up to seven years imprisonment for negligent act likely to spread infectious disease according to Section 171 of the Ugandan Penal code. “Any person who unlawfully or negligently does any act which is and which he or she knows or has reasons to believe to be likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life commits an offence and is liable to imprisonment for seven years,” outlines Section 171 of the Ugandan Penal Code.
In a series of now-deleted tweets, Omah Lay faulted the event organizers for allowing him to come into the country oblivious of such strict rules. “I didn’t organize a show, I came on stage and saw teeming fans and sang to them…” reads one tweet.
In another, he called out the Ugandan administration for unfairly detaining him. “Why am I being detained? Why am I not being given a right to a fair hearing?” he wrote, “Why is Uganda not letting @NigeriaMFA step into this? They have been trying to secure our release to no avail.”
However, the police in a statement claimed that their earlier plan to release the trio on police bond was suspended by the Office of the DPP and will be arraigned in court on Wednesday.
