Nigerian singer Fela to face action by drugs squad

LAGOS, April 11 (Reuter) Nigeria's drugs squad on Friday said it would
take action against maverick musician Fela AnikulapoKuti who was arrested on
Wednesday with more than 100 of his followers.

Major General Musa Bamaiyi, who commands the National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), told reporters that action would be taken against
the 107 people arrested in the raid on AnikulapoKuti's home and club. A
large quantity of marijuana was seized in the raid.

Bamaiyi said his squad had tried to give AnikulapoKuti counselling for
his drug habit.

``After months of experimentation our assessment of the situation is that
a drastic disease needs drastic surgery,'' he said. He did not say what type
of action would be taken.

Afrobeat superstar AnikulapoKuti, 58, is no stranger to controversy
or to the jail cell. He has a reputation for openly smoking marijuana and
dressing only in his underpants.

Fela said in remarks broadcast on the independent Channels Television
station that he was not responsible for other people smoking. ``I have been
smoking for 40 years. It helps my music. People know I smoke worldwide. It is
not drugs it is grass.''

Some of the girls shown at the NDLEA with Fela denied they were involved
with drugs. ``I am innocent and I have never smoked grass,'' said one on the
television, adding ``I was only visiting a friend at Shrine. I don't live
there.''

Fela was in the past critical of Nigeria's military rulers, but recently
he has kept to his home and club known as ``The Shrine'' in Ikeja, a working
class suburb of Lagos.