Last year two Nigerian upcoming artistes Omah Lay and Tems were arrested in Uganda for the flouting COVID-19 guidelines after holding a controversial concert that was held at Ddungu Resort in Munyonyo Kampala. The arrest of the two musicians was blamed on Bebe Cool.
This was because of the Facebook post he put up a few days before the event where he questioned why the organizers of the event would invite Nigerian artists when many Ugandan artists are struggling financially as a result of the covid-19 restrictions imposed by the government.
“I have reliable information that there will be a concert in Uganda this Saturday by some 2 Nigerian artists in Uganda. I beg the organiser to immediately cancel this act with due respect. Am a Ugandan artist and I will stand in for me and my fellow artists who have been stopped from performing in Uganda for all these months due to covid-19 and we respected the rules and regulations,” Bebe Cool wrote on his social media platforms days before the event.
However, Bebe Cool has shocked many after coming out in an interview on a local television and bragged that he used the arrest of singer Omah Lay and Tems in Uganda as an advantage to penetrate into the Nigerian market.
The singer who claimed to be the one who helped the two musicians get out of prison said that, he always fights hard to benefit from anything that comes his way, even if it’s positive or negative and this was the only chance he had to use to become popular in Nigeria and he used it well.
“An artist is supposed to benefit from anything that comes their way, be it positive or negative. Perhaps I couldn’t have penetrated into Nigeria with a song bit I did with the Omah Lay situation, that’s what artists should do, take advantage of situations,” Bebe Cool bragged in an interview.
Omah Lay and Tems were subsequently arrested by officers of the Uganda police force in Kampala, Uganda for reportedly flouting covid-19 guidelines and they spent two days in police custody with a court hearing before they were released and returned to Nigeria on Thursday, December 17, 2020.