VGMA gun saga: Police detains Stonebwoy, Shatta Wale
The Accra Regional Police Command has detained reggae and dancehall artistes Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale over gun-related violence at the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs) held on Saturday, 18 May 2019.
The two artistes, were invited by the police on Sunday afternoon and detained.
According to ClassFMonline.com sources, the two will be arraigned on Tuesday, 21 May 2019.
Background
The 20th edition of the VGMAs nearly turned bloody when fans of Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale engaged in near-fisticuffs over an award.
The confusion happened when Stonebwoy was announced as the Reggae Dancehall Artiste of the Year.
Shatta Wale and his fans approached the podium to, ostensibly congratulate Stonebwoy, but events turned chaotic resulting in a lot of pushing and shoving – a situation that prompted Stonebwoy to pull out his pistol.
The security officers at the event pepper-sprayed the stage in an attempt to prevent a full-blown fight.
The “Kpok3k3” hitmaker later apologised for his actions.
“I’m sorry for the incident that happened earlier. I only had to react out of natural instincts because we all know how premeditative some people can be. We’ve seen on social media the threats and everything, so, we couldn’t come in unprepared because anything could have happened as you guys saw. I come in peace and I go in peace and I apologise to the whole of Ghana…” Stonebwoy said on stage when he picked his second award of the night after the show had resumed following the fracas.
Meanwhile, Fraud and Security Consultant, Richard Kumadoe, has condemned the manner in which Stonebwoy pulled the gun which put the lives of the people at the event in danger.
Mr Kumadoe told ClassFMonline.com that the incident was “sad and distasteful” as minors could be watching and be oriented into the use of gun-related violence.
The CEO of Richquest Consult admonished the law enforcement agencies to “take the necessary actions in curbing this insane behaviour going forward and apply the appropriate sanctions where it deems fit”.
In his view, “the excesses of pulling out a gun in a crowded public space such as that could be disastrous not only to the target person but also to the crowd as well”.
Mr Kumadoe said it seems “one camp planned for revenge and they had the opportunity to showcase their machoism by boldly showing forth a weapon such as a gun”.
He wondered how systems could fail in detecting and preventing people from attending such public events with offensive weapons such as guns which could result in deadly consequences.
“As to how the gun and other weapons might have gotten into the hall its a simple case of access control failure which has severe and dangerous implications and repercussions for the musicians, the organisers, the event attendees and the nation as a whole,” he noted.
He admonished that “national security gets involved in such gathering of large crowds especially for national events such as VGMA and other related public events in ensuring that proper and personal security measures are adhered to without fail to safeguard lives and properties
The Accra Regional Police Command has detained reggae and dancehall artistes Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale over gun-related violence at the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs) held on Saturday, 18 May 2019.
The two artistes, were invited by the police on Sunday afternoon and detained.
According to ClassFMonline.com sources, the two will be arraigned on Tuesday, 21 May 2019.
Background
The 20th edition of the VGMAs nearly turned bloody when fans of Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale engaged in near-fisticuffs over an award.
The confusion happened when Stonebwoy was announced as the Reggae Dancehall Artiste of the Year.
Shatta Wale and his fans approached the podium to, ostensibly congratulate Stonebwoy, but events turned chaotic resulting in a lot of pushing and shoving – a situation that prompted Stonebwoy to pull out his pistol.
The security officers at the event pepper-sprayed the stage in an attempt to prevent a full-blown fight.
The “Kpok3k3” hitmaker later apologised for his actions.
“I’m sorry for the incident that happened earlier. I only had to react out of natural instincts because we all know how premeditative some people can be. We’ve seen on social media the threats and everything, so, we couldn’t come in unprepared because anything could have happened as you guys saw. I come in peace and I go in peace and I apologise to the whole of Ghana…” Stonebwoy said on stage when he picked his second award of the night after the show had resumed following the fracas.
Meanwhile, Fraud and Security Consultant, Richard Kumadoe, has condemned the manner in which Stonebwoy pulled the gun which put the lives of the people at the event in danger.
Mr Kumadoe told ClassFMonline.com that the incident was “sad and distasteful” as minors could be watching and be oriented into the use of gun-related violence.
The CEO of Richquest Consult admonished the law enforcement agencies to “take the necessary actions in curbing this insane behaviour going forward and apply the appropriate sanctions where it deems fit”.
In his view, “the excesses of pulling out a gun in a crowded public space such as that could be disastrous not only to the target person but also to the crowd as well”.
Mr Kumadoe said it seems “one camp planned for revenge and they had the opportunity to showcase their machoism by boldly showing forth a weapon such as a gun”.
He wondered how systems could fail in detecting and preventing people from attending such public events with offensive weapons such as guns which could result in deadly consequences.
“As to how the gun and other weapons might have gotten into the hall its a simple case of access control failure which has severe and dangerous implications and repercussions for the musicians, the organisers, the event attendees and the nation as a whole,” he noted.
He admonished that “national security gets involved in such gathering of large crowds especially for national events such as VGMA and other related public events in ensuring that proper and personal security measures are adhered to without fail to safeguard lives and properties
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