Afrobeat star reveals how his mother unknowingly made him deliver drug-laced bread to Fela Kuti while he was detained in Lagos

Afrobeat musician Seun Kuti has recounted a striking childhood experience involving his late parents, revealing how his mother once unknowingly used him to deliver cannabis to his father, legendary Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, while he was in police detention.

Speaking in a recent interview, Seun said the incident happened when Fela was being held at the Federal Investigation and Intelligence Department facility in Alagbon Close, Lagos.

According to him, his mother, Fehintola Kuti, had concealed cannabis inside a loaf of bread and instructed him to hand it over during a prison visit.

He said he was only about eight or nine years old at the time and had no idea what was hidden in the bread.

“We were going to visit my father at Panti, and my mum bought bread to give to him. She hid ‘Igbo’ inside the bread and asked me to hand it over when we got there,” Seun recalled.

“Bear in mind, I was about eight or nine years old. My parents were such gangsters, man! I didn’t even know what was going on. I just got there and gave the bread to my dad.”

Seun added that he only learned the truth afterward when his sister explained what had been inside the bread.

“On our way home, my sister asked if I knew there was Igbo in the bread. My mum had told her, but didn’t tell me because she knew I might have said something to the police,” he said.

He also reflected on the frequent prison visits he made as a child, noting that he had accompanied his father to several detention facilities, including Ikoyi Prison, Kirikiri Prison, Panti, and Alagbon Close.