Yoruba Fuji maestro, Wasiu Ayinde, popularly known as KWAM or K1 De Ultimate, has hit back at some of his band members, including Ayankunle Ayanlowo, who accused him of staff slaving them.
K1 spoke in an interview with GoldMyne TV on Sunday, stressing that Ayankunle and the other members were just being mischievous and wanted to dent his image in their respective interviews.
Ayankunle detailed his experiences working with KWAM1, alleging mistreatment and likening his relationship with the musician to that between a master and a slave in an interview published by an online platform (not According Online).
He claimed KWAM1 would confiscate their passports when they travelled and recounted an incident where he was instructed to return home instead of seeking medical attention.
The drummer expressed ongoing health concerns, attributing them to stress from his about 32 years with KWAM1, and vowed to hold the singer accountable if anything happened to him.
Responding to the allegation, KWAM1 said Ayankunle, complaining of his passport being withheld, ran away from the band while they were on a tour in England and since then had had his travel documents confiscated by the British authorities for overstaying beyond the return date on the visa.
“Ayankunle and two others ran away from the band in England with their passports. And we returned to Nigeria. That was in the 90s. After he ran away, information reaching us indicated that in the course of him overstaying, he gave his passport to someone to come and present it at the British embassy. As of that time, they were not stamping visas on passport leaflets. The person successfully had his details changed to his while he maintained Ayankunle’s passport.
“On scrutiny, the embassy detected and withheld the passport. Ayankunle’s passport is at the British High Commission. This is someone who can barely read or write, and I facilitated a passport for him. I’m not the one who collected his passport. He has run away with it. How come the same passport is with me?” KWAM 1 queried.
The Fuji maestro further said another ban member, Ismaila Olubade, also accused him of withholding his passport and leaving them in America to go to his ex-wife in London, after which Demola Oyefeso bought them tickets to return to Nigeria.
“Is it possible for them to return to Nigeria without their passports? Of course, they all have their passports. If I had withheld their passports, Immigration or Customs would have questioned what I was doing with such a number of passports.
“When I saw that their problems were becoming too much for me, I disbanded them and then regrouped again with new members. After them, another set of people has run away. It’s a common thing with band members,” he added.
Speaking on allegation of staff slaving them, KWAM1 said he never treated anyone unjustly, adding that he has always paid listening hears to them.
He gave an example of one of his band members who complained that his house was being put up for demolition in Oyo State and how he pacified him that he would do something for him with the help of the team member too to salvage the situation.
“I told him that only his house cannot be put up for demolition. Although I could easily ask Governor Seyi Makinde but he was sure that many houses would have been marked too for the benefits of the residents of the state. So it was easier to just help him with whatever he could provide and the support of others,” he maintained.
