R&B singer, Lami Phillips is furious. The sexy singer
is angry over the deflation of tyres of her car and others by some
overzealous President Goodluck Jonathan’s security details during a
cordon of environs around Adetokunbo Ademola Street, Victoria Island,
Lagos during the interactive session between the president and some
entertainers at the Eko Hotels & Suites on Sunday.
The
singer, who was attending a beauty product launch at another venue
close to Eko Hotels where Mr. President was with showbiz people, took to
the Twitter and Instagram early this week to register her displeasure
and lashed out at the president.
“So President Jonathan
was passing Eko Hotel & all cars parked on the road had tyres
deflated, including mine. Awesome move before elections,” she wrote on
Twitter.
But her anti-Jonathan tweet later attracted
some comments which made her to explain what really transpired in a
lengthy message on her Instagram feed.
•Lami Phillips
Her
words: “Yesterday (Monday) I put out this tweet and since then it has
become an issue. I shouldn’t have to explain myself as it is my twitter
space and opinion but clearly freedom of speech is something we still
have to negotiate on this side of the world.
“I was a
guest at Maison Fahrenheit (along Adetokunbo Ademola Street) for an
event. I had decided to drive myself and have an easy Sunday. On getting
to the location the officials there in some uniform asked that I park
on the road along with at least 20 other cars. The cars were parked
properly and there was room for thoroughfare.
“At some
point I asked my assistant to get something from my car. She got there
to find policemen who claimed to be security details for the president
ordering that all tyres should be deflated. She pleaded with them at
which point they threatened bodily harm. All the cars on that side of
the road were deflated. As far as I know there was no sign saying ‘no
parking’. There was no announcement that any government official would
be in town and therefore certain areas were out of bounds. I have been
to several events at Eko Hotel and more in that area and that space has
always been used for parking. This is the only incident that may
indicate that perhaps when government officials are in town it is
illegal. I still haven’t gotten clarity on that because I asked.
“Before
I formed an opinion I asked myself what the deflation of the tyres
solved. Had the cars been towed over claims that they were illegally
parked with proof, I surely would be quiet. Had the cars been blocking
the road I would be quiet. I pride myself in being a good obedient
Nigerian citizen. After all when we go to other countries we obey their
laws. My issue here is there was no clarity on what law was broken or
what we did to deserve that.
“I wondered for a second
what would have happened had I been alone unaware of the situation.
Where would I have gotten help last night? How unsafe would it be at
that time to seek help?” she asked.
Of course, Lami was
not alone in that ugly situation. According to her, a man whose wife
was pregnant came out of another building to find his tyres also
deflated.
“There are several others too. We should not
live in fear. We should live in freedom. If they were empowered to do
this it is wrong,” the singer noted.
P.M.NEWS
Entertainment Café gathered that many guests including those who
attended the interactive session with the president too were utterly
shocked to find their cars’ tyres deflated at that very late hours, some
as late as past midnight.
Culled from P.M.NEWS
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