Nigerian pop star quizzed over lorry of 'half-naked' dancers
Popular Nigerian musician Augustine Kelechi, known as Tekno, has been questioned for throwing cash at scantily clad women dancing in a glass-sided van in Lagos, police said yesterday. “We invited Tekno yesterday for questioning over an incident involving him and some half-naked girls dancing in a moving lorry around the Lekki area,” Lagos state police spokesman Bala Elkana told AFP. “He was released after interrogation.” Elkana said investigations were “ongoing” into the incident on Friday night in Nigeria’s economic capital and it was too early to say if charges would be pressed.
A video went viral over the weekend showing the singer throwing money at ladies wearing lingerie as they danced around a pole in the glass-sided vehicle while it crawled along in traffic. The 26-year-old singer took to his Instagram page on Sunday to offer an unreserved apology to anyone who “felt offended by the scenery they saw”.
The performer claimed he was shooting a music video and “had a shortage of vehicles to convey people to the next location”. He denied it was an advert for a strip club or “dancing naked on the streets for any type of reason”. But the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency slammed the incident as a publicity stunt “of crass immorality”. “Nobody can hide under the guise of engaging in the outdoor advertising business to display obscenity that is antithetical to our cherished cultural and moral values,” it said in a statement.