Nollywood Star, Damola Olatunji, is being detained at Area P Police Command in Lagos State after he recorded and uploaded an assault on, Timileyin Salawu, who is his Personal Assistant.
Olatunji was arrested hours after he confronted Policemen whom he accused of assaulting his Personal Assistant.
The actor on Monday, December 20 2021, went live on Instagram to show the faces of the policemen who allegedly assaulted him and his P.A. by seizing their phones. According to the actor, the incident took place in the Abule-Egba area of Lagos State.
Olatunji disclosed that the policemen forcefully took his phone while he was recording them and also slapped his P.A. He also accused the policemen of “extorting people of their hard-earned money”. The actor noted that there were good policemen in Nigeria, however, the ones he encountered were the bad ones.
Shortly after the video went viral, local media, SaharaReporters, reported that Olatunji and Salawu were arrested and detained at Area P Police Command.
The report stated: “They were both detained at Area P in Ipaja. The ridiculous allegation was that they recorded and documented police activity and it is tantamount to inciting the public against the police, stating that #EndSARS started the same way.
“They claimed the Commissioner of Police ordered them to detain him since last night and he was put in a cell in a very dehumanizing state”.
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According to the report, his wife and other family members as well as many of his colleagues in the movie industry including his lawyer, were waiting at the gate of the police station without having access to him.
Salawu’s lawyer, Barrister Adewale Alabi, In an interview confirmed that his client, Damola Olatunji, and his PA were still in police custody. The lawyer noted that he was in talks with the Head of the Police of the area on how they could grant the actor bail.
#freedamolaolatunji Campaign
Meanwhile, wife of Damola Olatunji, Oluwabukola Awoyemi, who is also in the movie industry, started a campaign on social media to help free her husband.
She started the trend with the hashtag #freedamolaolatunji and further tagged Lagos state governor, Baba Jide Sanwo-Olu.
Currently, nobody knows what the campaign has really done or how far it has helped her husband’s situation, since the actor is still in police custody.
This is not the first time the actor would have a run-in with the police in Lagos. In February 2020, his movie set was disrupted by some police officers in Lagos.
In the video which trended on social media, the officers demanded their work permits. This was met with stiff resistance from the actor and his crew. The armed police officers argued with the film crew by the roadside and stalled their filming for hours. The matter was later resolved amicably.
The actor became famous after he starred in Yomi Fash-Lanso’s movie ‘Ojo’ (Rain). He has since featured in several movies including: ‘Man’s Best Friend’, ‘Status’, ‘Ona MiIyawo’, and many others.
The actor, who emerged as TAMPAM’s Chairman in June 2020, has starred alongside various actors and actresses like Femi Adebayo, Bolaji Amusan, and many others.
