“You Were Advertising Drug Trafficking”, NDLEA Tells Davido Over Fans Mi Video

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.