In a dramatic Instagram post, Seun Kuti, the son of Afro-beats legend Fela Kuti, has alleged that late Nigerian businessman and politician MKO Abiola, along with his wife Simbiat, falsely accused his father of armed robbery during Muhammadu Buhari’s military regime in the 1980s.
Seun Kuti claimed that Abiola and Simbiat accused Fela of stealing their Ferrari at gunpoint, aiming to have him executed under the strict anti-robbery laws enforced by Buhari’s Deputy Head of State, Tunde Idiagbon, where armed robbery was a capital offense.
During a live Instagram session, Seun recounted the alleged incident:
“Abiola and his wife, Simbiat, lied against Fela that he and his boys robbed her of her Ferrari at gunpoint under Idiagbon’s regime. This was Abiola and his wife’s plan to kill my dad because, under Idiagbon, armed robbery was punishable by death,” Seun said.
He explained that Abiola and Simbiat had reported the supposed crime at a police station, leading to Fela’s arrest. However, Fela was performing in Cameroon on the day of the alleged robbery, which Seun claims was a crucial detail that saved his father from a potential death sentence.
Seun continued, “Fela escaped the case because he can’t be in two places at the same time; it’s either he’s on a stage in Cameroon or robbing in Lagos.”
In a retaliatory move, Fela and his elder brother, Femi, reportedly took a drastic step. Seun revealed that they took 12 buckets of feces to Abiola’s house, a reference to Fela’s song “Give Me Shit, I Give You Shit.”
“They took it to Abiola’s house in the middle of the night and smeared his compound,” Seun recounted. “The next day, the police visited my father’s house saying they came to investigate the shit-show in Abiola’s house the previous day. But Fela denied the act saying if given the opportunity, he would smear Abiola’s house with feces.”
Seun’s statements shed light on a historical conflict between Fela Kuti and Abiola, revealing a turbulent period of political and personal strife.