The legendary musician from Fuji, Wasiu Ayinde Marshal, also referred to as K1 De Ultimate or Kwam1, has addressed claims made by Ayankunle Ayanlowo and other band members that he mistreated them and confiscated their passports.
Ayanlowo, a former drummer who says he worked with Kwam1 for 32 years, claimed to have repeatedly been abused and mistreated in a recent interview.
He claimed that passports were taken for unknown reasons while travelling abroad, leaving them at Kwam1’s mercy.
Ayanlowo described upsetting experiences, such as being told to go back home rather than seek emergency medical attention.
He revealed the long-lasting effects of his interactions with Kwam1 by attributing the stress to the beginning of an ulcer.
Kwam1 responded by calling the accusations “mischief” and implying that Ayanlowo and others were trying to damage his reputation.
He claimed that Ayanlowo absconded from the band during a tour in England, resulting in his passport being withheld by British authorities for overstaying.
He said, “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?”
In addition, Kwam1 claimed that Ismaila Olubade, a different band member, had stolen his passport, leaving the group trapped in America while he visited his ex-wife in London.
He stressed that it was because of these problems that he decided to dissolve the group and find new members.
In reference to the purported seizure of passports, Kwam1 clarified that every member possessed their passports and refuted any misconduct, asserting that immigration or customs would have taken action in the event that such activities had taken place.
In his closing remarks, he implied that band members frequently ran away.
In his words, “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.”
See video below:
K1’s side of the story on Ayankunle issue with him. pic.twitter.com/Wee617RZRg
— Teejay Communication Hub (@teejanson4) March 25, 2024
