Comedians, Mc Toothpick, Laff Mayor, Mc Tutalk and Mc Samorano, all of them members of a comedy group known as Naija’s Craziest, were reportedly arrested by the police on Tuesday in Lagos for their part in the production of a new video that parodies members of the Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Church and its General Overseer, Pastor Lazarus Muoka.
Tagged Naija’s Craziest Episode 144, the video, which is available on Youtube, begins with a disclaimer and a caption that reads, “When members of a church think that an apron is powerful enough to protect them, they will roll in the mud and confront armed robbers.”
Thereafter, it opens, showing a group of Christian worshippers, presumably members of the church, wearing olive green aprons and singing loudly and dancing in a muddy street. One of them, a male, rolls on the ground and in a pool of muddy water that lies between the camera and the singing mass.
While the scene continues to run in the background, the comedians appear on the screen, one after another and criticise members of the church for their conduct in public. Beginning with Mc Toothpick, they attack the latter for “preaching and constituting a nuisance” to the public.
Also, in the video, Mc Tutalk hints at a plot to deceive the members of the church with the idea of a spiritual and protective apron that sells for N1000 each. According to him, if all the members, numbering 200,000, buy an apron each, the total sum realised would be N200m.
Our correspondent gathered that the video caught the attention of the church and its G.O, who then reported the matter to the police. A statement posted on the Facebook page of Naija’s Craziest on Tuesday formally announced the arrest of its members.
The statement read, “We would like to inform our fans concerning the arrest of the Naija’s Craziest Crew by the state CID Panti. The arrest came as a result of a report filed by the Lords Chosen Church G.O. over a comedy video satirising the church members rolling in the mud.”
The statement indicated that the mobile phones belonging to the comedians were confiscated to prevent them from making calls.
Describing the arrests as an attack on the comedians’ rights to freedom of speech, the statement continued, “It is amazing that you can be arrested over a comedy video that has a disclaimer at the beginning.” It ended by adding that the arrested comedians were being detained at the state Criminal and Investigative Department in Panti and urging fans of the comedy group to share the post.
According to a report published by a popular blog, the police informed one of the comedians, MC Toothpick, that he and other members of Naija’s Craziest had committed an offence against the law.
But it added that the police did not state the exact offence committed by the comedians by posting the video on social media.
When contacted for details, the Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Police Command, SP Dolapo Badmus, did not respond as of the time of going to press.
