Grammy award-winning music sensation, Openiyi Temilade, known as Tems, recently opened up about her experience in a Ugandan prison, detailing the emotional impact it had on her.
On the night of December 12, 2020, Tems and fellow artist, Omah Lay, were arrested for performing at an unauthorised concert and violating COVID-19 protocols during their visit to Uganda.
In an interview with Angie Martinez, Tems shared her experience, starting from the moment she was apprehended at her hotel.
She said she initially believed it was a joke, but the reality set in when she arrived at the prison and was handed her prison uniform, an experience that moved her to tears.
She spent two days in the prison, unsure of when she would be released.
Tems stated, “We didn’t break the [COVID-19] rules. It was basically like a setup. We went to Uganda, I had a show there. It was during COVID year but they had opened things up that time. They had just had a rally in Uganda. People were going out. It wasn’t on lockdown. It was the aftermath.”
“And the organisers said they had the permit, they sent us the permit. Everything was cool. And went there and there is this particular artist, I’m not sure now what his role was but he was just busy threatening Nigerian artists that they shouldn’t come. And after the show, the police came. They weren’t in uniforms. They just knocked on my hotel room. My manager and I were eating lunch or dinner. And they just came and said we should follow them and my manager was like he would go with them.”
“So, he went with them. But they came back upstairs to pick me up. So, it was like who called them? Later, I found out that there was some weird… That was so scary. I spent two nights in prison. I thought I wasn’t gonna come out. I thought maybe I was going through it for a reason. I was like maybe this is for me to help the people in prison. It was crazy, I ain’t gonna lie. I was settling in because I adapt real quick.”
