Kwara State police command has arrested a popular singer, Habeb Okikiola Badmus, aka ‘portable’ for alleged criminal defamation and other related offences.

The arrest was carried out in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Saturday, by operatives of the command, acting on a petition by one Okunola Saheed, popularly known as ‘Osupa’.

This was contained in a statement on Sunday by the spokesperson of the command, SP Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi in Ilorin, the state capital.

The statement read in part, “The Kwara State Police Command wishes to inform the general public that following a petition received from one Mr. Okunola Saheed, popularly known as ‘Osupa,’ against Mr. Habeeb Okikiola Badmus, also known in the entertainment industry as ‘Portable’…“Police detectives of Kwara Command have taken lawful steps in line with due process to investigate the allegations.

“The petition borders on serious allegations which includes criminal defamation, threat to life, incitement, character assassination, conduct likely to cause a breach of peace and the use of abusive and insulting words.

“In view of the weight of these allegations and the supporting evidence presented, the Command secured a valid arrest warrant from a Magistrate Court sitting in Ilorin.“

Acting on this warrant, operatives from the Command proceeded to Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Saturday, 13th April 2025, where the suspect was apprehended at about 19:25hrs.

He was immediately brought to Ilorin for further investigations.

“Upon his arrival, the suspect’s statement was taken in the presence of legal representatives from both parties.

He is currently in custody and arrangements are being made to charge him to court without delay.”

The state police command reaffirmed its commitment to upholding the rule of law and ensuring that justice is served in a fair and transparent manner, urging members of the public to remain calm and refrain from spreading unverified information.

“ Your Papa”, released on Monday, criticised President Bola Tinubu government’s economic policies, telling his son, Seyi to tell his father (President Tinubu) that Nigerians are hungry among others.

The National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, has banned Nigerian radio and television stations from airing Eedris Abdulkareem’s new single, ‘Tell Your Papa, over what it describes as its “objectionable nature”.

“ Your Papa”, released on Monday, criticised President Bola Tinubu government’s economic policies, telling his son, Seyi to tell his father (President Tinubu) that Nigerians are hungry among others.

In the song, the rapper berated President Tinubu for making “too many empty promises,” which he dismissed as “balablu grammar”.

Eedris, as he is popularly known, called on Seyi Tinubu to convey Nigerians’ hardships to his father.“Tell your papa Seyi/ Tell your papa country hard/ Tell your papa people dey die/ Tell your papa Seyi/ This one don pass jagajaga/ Seyi, ebi n pa mekunu/ Tinubu, ebi n pa mekunu/ Seyi how far/ Your papa no try/ Too much empty promises/ Balablu grammar,” Eedris sings.

The song, according to a memo dated April 9 and signed by Susan Obi, the coordinating director, broadcast monitoring, was deemed to be in violation of Section 3.1.8 of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.

Justifying the ban the NBC said it considered the song’s content to be “inappropriate” and “objectionable”, saying it violated public decency standards on broadcast platforms.

The commission equally advised stations to “exercise discretion” and avoid airing the song to maintain “responsible broadcasting standards”.

According to NBC, “The National Broadcasting Commission has identified the song “Tell Your Papa” by Eedris Abdulkareem, currently trending on social media, as content deemed inappropriate for broadcast due to its objectionable nature.

“It is therefore classified as Not To Be Broadcast (NTBB), as it violates Section 3.1.8 of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.

The Commission requests that your station exercises discretion and refrains from airing this song to maintain responsible broadcasting standards.

“Your cooperation and commitment to upholding these standards are greatly appreciated. Thank you.”

Prolific American actor Val Kilmer, who was propelled to fame with “Top Gun” and went on to starring roles as Batman and Jim Morrison, has died at age 65, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

The cause of death was pneumonia, his daughter Mercedes Kilmer told the Times. He had battled throat cancer following a 2014 diagnosis, but later recovered, she said.

AFP has reached out to his representatives for comment.

Originally a stage actor, Kilmer burst onto the big screen full of charisma, cast as a rock star in Cold War spoof “Top Secret!” in 1984.

Two years later, he gained fame as the cocky, if mostly silent fighter pilot in training Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in box office smash hit “Top Gun,” playing a rival to Tom Cruise’s “Maverick.”

A versatile character actor whose career spanned decades, Kilmer toggled between blockbusters and smaller-budget independent films. He got a shot at leading man status in Oliver Stone’s “The Doors,” depicting Jim Morrison’s journey from a psychedelics-loving LA film student to 60s rock frontman.

After a cameo in Quentin Tarantino-written “True Romance,” Kilmer went on to star alongside Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in “Heat” and took a turn as the masked Gotham vigilante in “Batman Forever,” between the Bruce Wayne portrayals by Michael Keaton and George Clooney.

A 1996 Entertainment Weekly cover story dubbed Kilmer “The Man Hollywood Loves to Hate,” depicting him as a sometimes surly eccentric with exasperating work habits.

A New York Times interviewer in 2002 said Kilmer “hardly lives up to that reputation” and found the actor instead “friendly, buoyant and so open that he often volunteers personal details about his life and is quick to laugh at himself.”

“You have to learn to speak Val,” director D. J. Caruso told the newspaper.– ‘ Magical life’ –Born Val Edward Kilmer on New Year’s Eve 1959, he began acting in commercials as a child.

Kilmer was the youngest person ever accepted to the drama department at New York’s fabled Juilliard school, and made his Broadway debut in 1983 alongside Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon.

In Hollywood, the Los Angeles native longed to make serious films but found himself in a series of schlocky blockbusters and expensive flops in the early 2000s.

Chastened by a decade or more of low-budget movies, he was mounting a comeback in the 2010s with a successful stage show about Mark Twain that he hoped to turn into a film when he was struck by cancer.

“Val,” an intimate documentary about Kilmer’s stratospheric rise and later fall in Hollywood, premiered at the Cannes film Festival in 2021 and showed him struggling for air after a tracheotomy.

Kilmer “has the aura of a man who was dealt his cosmic comeuppance and came through it,” US publication Variety wrote of the film.

“He fell from stardom, maybe from grace, but he did it his way.”When he reprised his role as “Iceman” in the long-awaited sequel “Top Gun: Maverick,” Kilmer’s real-life health issues,and rasp of voice,were written into the character.“

Instead of treating Kilmer — and, indeed, the entire notion of Top Gun — as a throwaway nostalgia object, he’s given a celluloid swan song that’ll stand the test of time,” GQ wrote.

On his website, Kilmer said he had led a “magical life.”

“For more than half a century, I have been honing my art, no matter the medium. Be it literature, movies, poetry, painting, music, or tracking exotic and beautiful wildlife,” he wrote.

According to the Times, he is survived by two children, Mercedes and Jack Kilmer.

AFP