•LAGOS Big Boy, SEUN EBGEGBE
It is no longer news that Lagos big boy and socialite, Seun Egbegbe, is back in town after spending six years in incarceration. He was arrested after he was alleged to have defrauded some Bureau de change operators in Lagos. He was taken to court and subsequently thrown into prison, not convicted but was on awaiting trial for the period of six years until he was released from prison a couple of weeks ago after having had about 44 out of the 45 count charges against him dropped to just one.
It was a fresh, clean looking and bubbly Seun Egbegbe that welcomed City People’s Senior Editor, WALE LAWAL (08037209290) into the lounge of a cute and cosy hotel somewhere in Lagos where we engaged the now ‘born again’ Seun Egbegbe for close to two hours. He was delighted to finally get the opportunity to say his own side of the story because, according to him, he was not given the opportunity to state his own case to the public before he was hounded into prison. And with his bottle of Coke in his hands all through the interview, he took us through his ordeal in prison, the lessons he has learnt and how he became born again while in prison. Enjoy excerpts.
Let’s take it from the beginning, first, looking back at the incident that got you into prison, and the fact that you are now a changed man who has learnt his lessons, the question many people will like to know is, did you commit the crime you were taken to prison for?
Okay, the thing is this, many people didn’t even give me the chance to hear my own side of the story before judging me, but me, I am still standing my ground, I didn’t do it. I don’t want us to start going into details of all that happened again but I maintain my innocence.
Alright, back in February 2017, that’s 6 years ago, were you convicted for six years or the case was on for 6 years? There has been conflicting versions about this and I think you should clarify this once and for all.
I was not convicted for 6 years but I was on Awaiting Trial for 6 years. I was arraigned on the 12thh of February 2017 at Federal High Court, Ikoyi. I was remanded on the 10th of February and was put on awaiting trial but the case dragged for 6 years before the judgement came on the 11thh of October, 2022.
Now, what really happened was that I was arraigned in court and was given bail that same February, 2017, but the bail condition that was given was quite high. The judge said only a civil servant on level 16 with at least N5million sitting in his account, including a landed property in Lagos could stand as surety for my bail.
Was this the situation back then when people were wondering why your friends like Pasuma couldn’t come to your aid if the money involved was just N5m?
Sure, that’s why I am clearing the air on that right now. The judge did not ask anyone to go and bring any money, what was said that was that whoever will be willing to stand as surety must have at least N5m in his account, but most importantly, he must be a Civil Servant. Pasuma and my other circle of friends are not Civil Servants. When I read those comments online, I just smiled because I knew what the actual situation was. Getting a civil servant who has risen to the point of level 16 of course was not easy.
So, the issue was not just an issue of money. Another option of surety was that of a business owner with a registered business and worth at least N5m with landed property in Lagos. Somebody like Pasuma, what he did for me is worth much more than N5m. And it wasn’t just Pasuma, Malaika, MC Oluomo, several others also stood by me. So, it wasn’t about the N5m like many were thinking, there were some other conditions tied to it which I just explained. That was one of the reasons why I stayed that long in prison. There’s also something I must say here, the judicial system in this country is very bad. If I appear in court for a case now, after the judge sits on the case, he can give an adjournment for another three months. That means I will be in prison for another three months. Now, if in three months we appear, they could tell you the judge is not in court, the case could be adjourned for another three or four months. And remember, for good one year, owing to the Corona virus, no court functioned. And when the Endsars issue came, everything was at a standstill too. These were some of the reasons why Seun Egbegbe stayed that long in prison. I am not an armed robber, neither am I a murderer, I should not have stayed that long in prison.
At the time the incident happened, what did people like Pasuma, MC Oluomo and your other close friends ask you? Did they believe you did what you were accused of doing?
Of course they asked me. They are my friends, they asked me, Seun, did you do it? And I told them in very emphatic terms, NO, I did not do it. And they said, fine, if you say you didn’t do it, no problem. But you know that if you lie to us, you can’t deceive your God. And from that moment, they did not doubt me, they just kept supporting me in whatever way necessary. So, that was what happened, I was not asked to bring N5m or anything like that. If that was the case, I would definitely not have spent 6 years in prison.
So, how was the experience like, especially for someone like you who was a big boy on the social scene? How long did it take you to come to terms with the situation and tell yourself that, Seun, this is life, you have to be a man and face it squarely?
I really thank God for my life. What happened was on the 10th of February when I was arraigned, when I got to the gate of the prison, I said something to my God, I said father, this case should not see the end of me, I should see the end of this case. I won’t sit down here and tell you I was a strong man and that’s why I survived, no, it was just God that stood by me. When I was there in prison, I was not even thinking about anything, I was only thinking about my family. I wasn’t thinking about how well others were doing outside and the condition I was, but I knew I would come out of it soon. Every time, I will pray to God and say, Father, I know I’m a sinner, but please deliver me out of this prison. It’s not that I committed the crime for which I was brought to prison, but I know I’m not a saint. I grew closer to my God and I believed that the truth would surely come out and I would be released. I knew that my God is bigger than my judge, bigger than my prosecutor, bigger than everybody, so I didn’t really think so much, but I knew God would fight for me and secure my release.
But did you miss the good times, the parties, the babes, while you were in prison?
Let me be honest with you, there was nothing much that I missed. But the one thing that I missed was my freedom. In fact, it was when I got to prison that I started to appreciate the freedom that I had and took for granted. Before this incident, I didn’t think freedom was a big deal. I felt it was something that was there for everyone and I had a right to have. But now, to be incarcerated, I now knew the meaning of freedom and appreciated it more. In prison, I couldn’t say let me go across the road and take a bottle of drink or drive to Agege to eat Amala. For the 6 years I was in prison, I knew the true value of freedom.
But were there moments when you felt despondent and was close to giving up on yourself?
Like I said earlier, I held on closely to God. That was what kept me going all the time. What actually shattered me the most was the fact that I was abandoned by a lot of people I didn’t believe could leave me in my darkest moment. That was the one thing that hurt me the most. People that I have helped in life, people that were always around me, many of them were nowhere to be found. Not once did they come to pay me a visit in prison. I saw the other side of life when I was there, but I thank God for life. God has taught me so many lessons while in prison, yes, you could say I learnt my lessons the hard way, but I achieved a lot of things while I was in prison.
Tell us some of the things that you achieved?
For me, giving my life to Christ remains my biggest achievement in life. For instance, let me explain something to you. Everyone knows that Seun Egbegbe likes to take care of his woman and spoil her silly, but I also get angry with women very easily. While in prison I saw a lot of people who have been there for over fifteen years because they fought their woman and the lady died. So many men convicted for killing their women, I tell you. And it occurred to me that, so, I too could’ve ended here just for beating a woman and she mistakenly dies. The way I spent money then was crazy. If I had N500,000, I will be shouting that I’m broke. But in prison, I could manage 5k for two weeks, but before then I couldn’t manage 500k for two days. So, the experience has taught me many things in life. God wanted me to know what life was about.
Who were some of those friends that stood by you?
Well, I can’t just be mentioning names now, but I must say I appreciate them a lot. Even in the movie industry, many of them stood by me but I can’t just be mentioning their names.
I know that Pasuma is your personal person, what specific role did he play in all of these?
See, when you talk about Pasuma, that is my personal person, he’s like a brother. Same with Malaika, Shefiu Alao, all of them, they tried for me. Including Alhaji Musiliu Oluomo, he also stood by me. I can’t lie to you, they all tried for me. People usually say that no matter how good you are to a musician, once you get into a problem he will abandon you, but that’s not true in the case of Pasuma, Malaika, Shefiu Alao, or even Alhaji Atawewe, Sule. Not like MC. Even Alhaji Saka Orobo, he stood by me. So many of them stood by me but I thank God for like.
How about people who benefitted from you, people who you have helped in life and showed a lot of kindness, did some of such people come back to stand by you?
Eighty percent of such people disappointed me. I repeat, eighty percent of them disappointed me. Only very few of them. Somebody like Baba Tee, anywhere you ask him, he will tell you it was Seun Egbegbe who made him get to where he is today. Back then, I will take Baba Tee to wherever Pasuma is performing and make him the MC, that was how he started. Yomi Fabiyi never got a kobo from me before, but because of something that happened to somebody he knows and he saw the role that I played, he is also a good guy. Many people tried for me. A lot of people have gone to MC Oluomo telling to stop helping me, but he would ask them, which one of you is a saint? Leye Kuti, the actor based in UK, on my birthday in 2019, he posted my picture and wished me happy birthday. People criticized him for it but he didn’t mind and yet, the guy had never gotten one kobo from me before. But it’s the people that I did a lot of things for that turned against me. But I thank God that I’m out now and I met them same way I left them.
Alright, you already mentioned something like you have given your life to Christ, so if I understand you correctly, are you saying Seun Egbegbe is now a true born again Christian?
Yes, I have the confidence to say that, yes, Seun Egbegbe is now a born again Christian one hundred percent because I have promised God that I will leave an exemplary life from now on. All I need to do now is get myself together, rebrand myself and move on with my life. Like I said earlier, it was my biggest achievement in life. It even means much more to me than buying a house in Banana Island.
Many people will be shocked to hear this, but I’m sure that a lot of people will be saying to themselves, it’s just for a short time, give him two or three months and he will be back, rocking parties and romancing the finest babes in town?
Okay, you have a point, but we shall see. And those who are thinking that way are not wrong, but let’s wait and see. I have seen a different side of life, I know what I’m talking about. I cannot spend six years in prison and then still come out to live the kind of live I was living before. But let’s wait and see.
Were you actively involved in fellowship while in prison?
Yes, we have two standard churches in Ikoyi prison, a Pentecostal church and a Catholic church and we had evening service everyday from 5pm to 6pm and I participated. I attended Sunday service and I never missed the evening service every day. There is also a standard mosque there as well.
I was shocked to see Seun Egbegbe looking fresh, looking bigger and all cleaned up like you have been away on vacation and you were only released from prison less than two weeks ago, what happened? What were you eating in prison, or was it not the same food everyone else was eating?
A true son of God will eat whatever is available and still look fine. But really, it’s not about the food. My family actually brought food to me in prison like three times a week. I never tasted prison food for one day. Not that the food thy served was not good enough, but you know it can never be like food cooked from home. I just decided on my own that I will not taste the food.
(Watch out next week for the concluding part of the interview as Seun Egbegbe reveals names of popular celebrities who abandoned him while in prison)
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