Daring daughter of former Oyo State governor, Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo, plumbed the depths of hell today as she appeared in prison uniform and chained to a male inmate in a picture circulating on social media.
“This is so unfortunate, and it should be condemned,” says Charity Nelson Anabraba, a Port Harcourt, Rivers State based lawyer who spoke with Newsmakersng.
“We’ve seen people that committed grievous offences; they were not treated that way,” she said. “I learnt that she was refused bail because of a story she published. It’s a bail-able offence; so I don’t get it. In this era of whistle blowing, there should be freedom of speech.”
A Lagos-based lawyer, ‘Tomi Awolesi-Ajayi, also condemned the way Kemi was treated.
She said, “It’s not right. The offence is not a felony. She didn’t commit murder. She should have been given bail. This is an affront to fundamental human rights. Even the parade of suspected criminals that we see every day is a negation of the presumption of innocence.”
On March 14, the Police arrested Kemi, a crime victim advocate, social critic, Pharmacist, US award-winning journalist, former Canadian Correspondent for BET’s hip-hop show, one-time aspiring President, and the News Director of HNN Africa (HipHossip News Net), a standard online news medium designed for young people, which was launched on September 28, 2013.
Reports say the arrest was over alleged comment on former President Olusegun Obasanjo or a story that romantically linked Nollywood actress Iyabo Ojo and Pastor David Ibiyeomie, who was described as a sugar daddy.
Ibiyeomie strongly denied the allegation and the police stepped in, arrested Kemi for defamation and she was refused bail.
Kemi was taken to Port Harcourt prison two days after the arrest.
From the sublime to the ridiculous, Kemi has now been through it all.
In August 2012, Kemi was arrested in her apartment in Toronto by agents from the Canada Border Services Agency. After being determined a flight risk when her refugee visa was not renewed, she was remanded at an immigration detention center for seven days before her deportation to Nigeria.
The second out of the 10 children of Dr Victor Omololu Olunloyo, Kemi is considered in many circles as a firebrand. She had spent her earlier 14 years in Nigeria, then 30 years in the United States, and five years in Canada before she was deported.
According to Wikipedia, Kemi had appeared as a journalist/reporter discussing terrorism and health topics on CNN, CBC News, Ruptly, CTV News, BBC, Nigerian Television Authority and Fox News. In 2010, she served on the Governors Advisory Council at Kingston General Hospital in Kingston, Ontario. She also worked briefly as entertainment journalist with the Nigerian Tribune, after a five-year stint running her own global music blog HipHossip Canada chosen by BET as their Canada-based hip-hop correspondent for the show, The Deal, showcasing rising hip-hop stars.
Fondly called Dr KOO or Snitch Lady, Kemi was active against gun violence while in Canada.
In Nigeria, she has used social media to raise awareness on the surging rate of male prostitution in the country.
In 2014, she released the names and photographs of men who solicited sex or exposed themselves on social media. Same year, she was listed among the top three nominees of the Social Media Awards Africa’s Social Media Influencer of the Year.
