The crisis in the band of popular Fuji artiste, Saheed Osupa may not be ending anytime soon.
As earlier reported by E24-7 MAGAZINE, the aggrieved 26 band boys of the artiste, some of whom had been with him for over two decades, downed tools about a month ago, over his failure to pay them a backlog of their wages as at when due.
According to the band boys, Saheed Osupa agreed to pay 26 of them N100,000 at N3, 800 each after every show, but he has never fulfilled his promise as he sometimes pays the said amount to cover two or three shows. Meanwhile, the aggrieved members disclosed that he gladly pays four bouncers who ensure his security at all outings the same amount (N100, 000) without battling an eyelid.
After the band boys went on strike, Osupa is reported to have recruited some new band members, largely from Igbo Ora and some parts of Oyo State to work with him, and they have been undergoing rigorous rehearsals to be able to cover any lapses.
However, the Association of Professional Drummers of Nigeria (APDON) to which many of the disenchanted band boys belong have dragged the singer to court. He was presented with a letter of summon detailing their grievances and claims by the association’s lawyer recently. The Chairman of the Lagos State Chapter of APDON, Jimoh Ayankojo confirmed that after exhausting all avenues to reconcile the two parties, the association had no choice than to exploit the court of law option. “Yes, we are going to court and our lawyer has already served Saheed Osupa with the necessary papers. As a matter of fact, we had earlier had a meeting with him at Yaba, but we could not come to a conclusion then. I was even surprised when I was picked up by policemen from Panti shortly after the meeting. The police claimed that someone had written a petition against me. I spent the whole day at their station, but the person that wrote the petition didn’t show up,” he said.
Meanwhile, Osupa, in anticipation of a not-too favourable outcome of a legal tussle, has called for a meeting with the band boys as well as the executives of APDON and their lawyer. There are indications that Osupa will look for avenues to settle the matter out of court at the meeting which is slated for Wednesday, October 14, 2015.
Source: e247