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Skales recounts performing for inmates after clash with billionaire
Nigerian singer Skales has shared a harrowing and emotional encounter with the Nigerian police system, revealing he was once locked up in a cell and forced to perform for inmates to secure basic privileges like a mat to sleep on.
In a revealing interview with Zikoko media, Skales described how he and his manager were arrested after a conflict involving a wealthy Nigerian billionaire. Despite being told he could go home, Skales refused to leave his manager behind, which led to his own detention.
“Just because of power, they arrested my manager… I said, ‘How can you arrest my manager and I’ll go home?’”
“While I was writing a statement, they said I had to sleep in the cell.”
Inside the jail, his fame preceded him — one inmate even asked if he had killed someone, before empathizing with him and jokingly offering to “help” retaliate against the billionaire.
Skales recounted the surreal moment when the cell boss demanded he perform his hit songs, “Shake Body” and “Emergency,” promising a better place to sleep in return.
“The boss even sang some lyrics… He said if I perform for them, they’d let me sleep on a mat. Normally, everyone sleeps on the floor. So I sang shamelessly.”
The performance earned him unexpected compassion from inmates, who declared he didn’t belong in jail. When he was eventually released, Skales returned with food supplies for the cellmates, acknowledging the brutal reality that prisoners only eat when family members send money.
“If your people don’t send money, you won’t eat… So when I left, I bought them lots of food and thanked them.”
This story sheds light not only on the abuse of power by the elite but also on the harsh and dehumanizing conditions in Nigerian police cells — a topic many artists have begun to speak out about.
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