Controversial Nigerian singer, Habeeb Okikiola, popularly known as Portable, has been sentenced to three months’ imprisonment by an Ogun State Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Ifo Local Government Area. However, the court gave the singer the option of paying a N30,000 fine instead of serving jail time.
The judgment comes after Portable was found guilty of assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. He was arrested in March 2023 following a viral incident in which he physically attacked a police inspector and obstructed officers who came to serve him an arrest warrant.
According to the Police Prosecutor, Inspector Olumide Awoleke, the offence occurred on November 18, 2022, at around 11:00 am in Okeosa, Ilogbo, within the Ifo Magisterial District.
The charge sheet read “That you, Badmus Habeeb Okikiola, aka Portable, and others now at large, on the 18th day of November 2022 at 11:00 hrs, in Okeosa, Ilogbo, within the Ifo Magisterial District, did conspire among yourselves to commit felony, to wit: assault, and thereby committed an offense contrary to and punishable under Section 517 of the Criminal Code Laws of Ogun State 2006.
That you, Habeeb Okikiola Olalomi, on the same date, time, and place in the aforementioned district, did unlawfully assault one Osimosu Emmanuel Oluwafemi (male) by beating him all over his body, thereby committing an offense contrary to and punishable under Section 351 of the Criminal Code Laws of Ogun State of Nigeria 2006.
That you, Badmus Habeeb Okikiola, aka Portable, on various occasions in the year 2022, at Okeosa, Ilogbo, within the Ifo Magisterial District, did steal some musical equipment, including a Yamaha H55 studio monitor, a complete Studio 2 interface connection cable, and an AKG P420 condenser, thereby committing an offense contrary to Sections 384 and 383 and punishable under Section 390 of the Criminal Code Laws of Ogun State, Nigeria, 2006.”
Delivering judgment, Chief Magistrate Babajide Ilo declared the singer guilty of Count 1 and Count 2. He sentenced Portable to one month in prison with an N10,000 fine option for Count 1, and two months in jail with an N20,000 fine option for Count 2, making a total of three months or an N30,000 fine.
The court’s ruling adds to the public controversies surrounding Portable, who has become known as much for his legal troubles as for his music.
