Claim: The Sierra Leone Police (SLP) published a list of wanted suspects accused of masterminding the deadly demonstration on August 10, 2022. One of the suspects is ‘DaGrin’ who they claim was a Sierra Leonean.
False! While DUBAWA cannot immediately confirm the identities of all the persons on the wanted list, investigations show that one of them, DaGrin, was a Nigerian who died several years ago and could not have been part of the masterminds of the demonstration.
Full Text
Sierra Leone has made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. What ought to have been a peaceful demonstration on August 10, 2022 turned violent with over 20 people including security personnel losing their lives.
There is a raging controversy over who the organisers of the demonstration are, even though government sources accuse opposition elements as being the masterminds of the violent demonstration.
The Sierra Leone president, Julius Maada Bio, as well as the security forces have vowed to investigate the cause of the violent demonstration in order to punish the perpetrators. A 15-member Committee has been constituted by the government to investigate the violence.
Even before the Committee was constituted, the Sierra Leone police had begun its own investigation to unravel the people behind the violent demonstration.
In line with that, a list of wanted persons accused of masterminding the August 10 violence has popped up.
The list which has pictures of the wanted persons came with the Sierra Leone Police logo planted at the top edges and a claim that all the persons captured in the banner were Sierra Leoneans. Below the banner were contact numbers purported to be that of the police and a 3,000 Nle reward to all persons who may divulge information that can lead to the arrest of any of the persons in the picture.
However, one of the pictures in the banner, believed to be that of Olaonipekun Oladapo Olaitan, a Nigerian Hip-hop artiste with the stage name DaGrin, has triggered a bigger controversy.
A social media blogger in Sierra Leone popularly called King Cross published the picture on his blog with a caption: “The Sierra Leone Police has released a list of wanted people who are alleged to be part of the protest that turned into a riot resulting in the deaths of several people and destruction of properties.
“Among the Wanted people is the late Nigerian singer DAGRIN who sadly passed away 12 years ago. We want to apologise in advance to Nigeria for any inconvenience this information may cause as our Inspector General is getting familiar to his new job.”
Other bloggers posted the same on their blogs with similar queries as can be seen here.
Verification
DUBAWA took special interest in this claim because it borders on the security of the nation and about a demonstration that has already taken the lives of over 20 people, some of whom include security officials. And with the picture of DaGrin in the list of wanted persons, the police’s claim had taken a different twist.
In verifying this claim, therefore, DUBAWA first had to establish whether or not the banner emanated from the police. This researcher had to go to the Lumley and Kissy Police Stations where the picture-banners had been posted to confirm if indeed it was coming from the police. Officers at the stations refused to speak on record to the researcher. Later, DUBAWA called one of the contacts provided on the banner which was picked by an officer, who hung up immediately the issue of DaGrin was raised by the researcher. Several attempts to call back have proven futile. But one thing is certain; the banner was indeed published by the police.
Picture investigation
Having confirmed the source of the banner, DUBAWA decided to scrutinise the pictures, especially that of DaGrin.
In the investigation, DUBAWA found that several news portals have used the photo of DaGrin depicting that the artiste was a Nigerian who died from complications arising from injuries sustained in a ghastly motor accident when he ran into a stationary truck in Lagos in 2010.
DUBAWA further conducted a TinEye reverse image search on the photo. We found a post on modernghana, a news website in Ghana, to have attached the picture to its news story published on May 15, 2010.
We also found an Instagram account with the handle @dagrin_official. The description of the account indicated that it is the unofficial account of the artist. In its feed, the picture with the Nigerian artiste having a gun around his neck was posted. This was on July 30, 2014, four years after his demise.
Even though there is little evidence of the exact location of the photo, several news sources indicate that he is a Nigerian artiste and could not have been a Sierra Leonean.
The evidence also suggests Dagrin died in 2010 and could not have been part of a plot to destabilise Sierra Leone in 2022.
What are Nigerians saying?
DUBAWA further got in touch with a music critic in Nigeria by name Emmanuel Daraloye to find out more about DaGrin.
“Dagrin was a Yoruba rapper who spotlighted the Yoruba rap scene in the 2010s. He was the front runner for the likes of Olamide, CDQ and other rappers that came after him,” Daraloye described the rapper’s craft.
“He died on April 22, 2010, at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) after a ghastly accident,” he also confirmed news about the rapper’s death.
He was surprised to have seen DaGrin’s picture on the list of wanted persons for a crime committed on August 10, 2022, 12 years after the rapper’s demise, and wanted the Sierra Leonean police to “pay more attention to detail.”
What are Sierra Leoneans saying?
DUBAWA also contacted an official in the Sierra Leone Music Industry by name of Bockarie Mattia to check if the late artist had anything to with Sierra Leone before his demise. According to him, there is no record to show that DaGrin ever came to Sierra Leone to perform or had any other business in Sierra Leone. He was quick to add though that DaGrin was quite popular in Nigeria whose fame shot up in 2008 only to be cut shot in 2012..
What more you should know about DaGrin
Olaonipekun Oladapo Olaitan aka (Dagrin) was born on October 15, 1987 in Ogun State in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
DaGrin’s Professional Career
DaGrin was a Hip-Hop artist with numerous accolades to his name.
He was among the few artists in Nigeria who sang his songs in his native language other than the well-known “Nigerian-Pidgin English” which is widely spoken in the country. He was known to be one of the prolific artists in his time who had songs or collaborations with artists such as D. J Neptune, M.I, Frenzy, 9ice, Konga etc.
DUBAWA also found out that DaGrin’s album won the best hip hop World Award 2010 – an award that was organised by the Nigerian Entertainment Awards( NEA).
The artist had a galaxy of songs to his name, but the famous ones or the ones that got the attention of the music industry were 50 tracks, which include: “If I Die; Kondo; DaGrinponPon Pon (Instrumental); Hola-Hola; Swag; Ghetto Dream; Da Grin – If I Die; Idi Nla; Kekere, and a host of other beautiful songs.
Few among his collaborations are: “My Pain (Part 2) ft. Dude Tetsola; Bigiano ft. Omawumi – Thank God; Mo ti Gboro ft. Isolate etc.
DaGrin met his untimely death in a road accident on April 14, 2010, along the Agege Motor Road, in Mushin, Lagos State.
Police reaction
DUBAWA again reached out to the Head of the Sierra Leone Police Media, Supt. Brima Kamara, to ask him how a man who died 12 years ago found his way into the Sierra Leonean police’s wanted list for a crime committed in August 2022. Supt. Kamara would not explain how except to say he is not much involved in policing because “I’m out on exams.”
Screenshot of a WhatsApp Chat with the SLP Spokesperson
According to the structure of communication in the Sierra Leone police, no police officer can speak to the media or on happenings around the Sierra Leone Police except the Head of Communications.
Conclusion
DUBAWA’s investigation shows that one of the pictures posted in the list of wanted persons is Olaonipekun Oladapo Olaitan, a deceased Nigerian hip-hop artist who died 12 years ago in a ghastly accident and could not have been part of the plot to cause mayhem in a demonstration that took place in 2022.
