FUNSHO AROGUNDADE
Sina Peller, Quilox owner % Oritsefemi
The crises emanated from that early morning of Saturday 12 November bloody fight between Afro pop star Oritsefemi Majemite Ekele and Quilox Nightclub owner, Shina Peller, is yet to abate.
While the brawl had led to blood, sweat, loss of properties, police intervention, sneering, and shading, but the heat generated by the accusations and counter-accusations by the two gladiators -Oritsefemi and Shina Peller – are nerving. The two camps have released press statements, while the social media space has also been saturated by their posts shading others.
But what went wrong? A source close to Oritsefemi, the MSN Gang frontman told P.M.EXPRESS that it is unrealistic for a popular singer like Oritsefemi to kick off a fight inside a popular hangout like Quilox without any cause.
According to him, the singer neither was he drunk nor angry with anyone prior to arriving the nightclub.
“…it is very unfair for anyone to insinuate that Oritsefemi would be at the club to disrupt patrons and other customer’s peace,” he said.
The source shared with our correspondent message from Oritsefemi explaining further what happened that led to he been ordered out of the club by Shina Peller and how the brawl went out of hand.
Oritsefemi stated; “On Friday, a friend invited me to meet him at Quilox at around 2 a.m early Saturday. On arrival at the club’s entrance, a bouncer whispered into my ears that Grade A celebrities like me have reserved seats upstairs in the VIP section of the club. However, on entering the VIP, my friends who were with me were bounced. I protested that I was not at the club alone. More so, I was invited by a friend and the person needed to come in alongside some of my colleagues. They were all denied access into the VIP section.
“Where I was reserved to seat was a Quilox patron also seated. After exchanging pleasantries, he offered me to share drink on his table. Already, I had ordered an expensive bottle of Hennessy XO for my friends and I. Due to my status, I had to share the drink with him because he showed he was my true fan. We chatted for some minutes, but I was not really comfortable being there with him because my friends were out of the VIP.
“I however excused to leave the section. The patron pleaded that I shouldn’t leave simply because my friends were bounced from the VIP. I told him that the reason I wanted to leave was best known to me. As I was discussing with the patron, one of the bouncer suddenly came to tell me that his boss, Shina had ordered that I should leave the VIP section. I asked him over what? He said if I don’t want to stay I should f**k off out of the club.
“The ‘f’ words he used really provoked me and the next thing the bouncer did was to start harassing me. When I realised he wanted to him me, I resisted but I was holding a glass cup with drink inside on my right hand which mistakenly hit one of his eye balls and blood started gushing out.
Oritsefemi claimed that while this was going on, Shina Peller then instructed other bouncers to walk me out of the club with instruction not to welcome artistes again into his club. He then re-instructed the other bouncers almost eight to take the “Double Wahala” singer off the premises and beat him up.
After the order, the bouncers dragged Oritsefemi out of the club and allegedly beat him to stupor.
The music star stated, “As this was going on, Shina Peller pretended he didn’t know anything until the bouncers descended on me. They beat me until I fainted. I was stripped naked inside the club premises. One of the bouncers stole my necklace jewelry worth N8.5 million on the spot. They dragged me on the floor for almost one hour before the Police came to rescue me. By then, I had no cloth on me. Even the Police officers who came to rescue me can bear me as a witness.
He claimed that another artiste, White Man, who accompanied him to the club was also beaten and terribly injured.
“I was later invited to Maroko Police station in order to write statement on what transpired between me and the bouncer. I narrated the whole scenario and the Investigative Police Officer, IPO settled the issue. He however instructed me to treat the injured bouncer immediately while also ordered Quilox management to provide my missing necklace one of the bouncers stole or they pay me N8.5 million which is the worth of the jewelry as at the time it was purchased.
Oritsefemi said Shina Peller or his Quilox management have not provided his necklace as instructed by the police. He said the IPO in charge of the matter had called Shina Peller severally but was told Shina had travelled to United Kingdom immediately after the incident.
While we could not immediately get the police reaction on the whole imbroglio, the management of popular Lagos nightclub, Quilox has also released a statement to state their own side of the story.
A statement signed by Jessica Ulo Oputa, PR and Marketing Manager of Quilox, accused Oritsefemi of throwing caution to the wind by attempting to forcefully sit eight of his guests at the VIP section of the club, contrary to the rule that table were reserved and the section not meant for every guest at the club.
She said the singer inflicted grave bodily harm on one of its bouncers in a bloody confrontation that occurred in the early hours of Saturday.
Quilox’s statement reads;
“In the early hours of the November 12, 2016, an unfortunate incident occurred between music act Oritsefemi and a member of the security team at Club Quilox.
“The incident started at about 2 a.m. Saturday morning when Oritsefemi came into Quilox without prior reservations or table bookings. It is important to note that tables are allocated to customers who have made prior paid table bookings in advance of their arrival except such customer is a patron or member of the club and tables are allocated according to availability in such case.
“However Oritsefemi who did not fall into any of the categories above approached a patron and after pleading was accommodated on a patron’s table, but with the understanding that other guests of the said patron were still being expected to join the table shortly which Oritsefemi agreed to. It is important to note that this is a table that could only accommodate a maximum of six people.
“In a surprising turn of events, Oritsefemi who was drinking from the patrons’ bottle, threw caution to the wind by attempting to sit eight of his guests at the table. The surprised Patron strongly rejected such effrontery and invited the bouncer guarding the floor to intervene.
“The bouncer politely approached Oritsefemi and told him that the Patron who owned the table did not want any of Oritsefemi’s guest joining in as the patrons guests were still being expected. However, Oritsefemi in a fit of unprovoked rage slapped the bouncer then proceeded to breaking a glass in his hand and stabbing him in the eye. Despite his position or the power he thinks he has as a celebrity, this is not an excuse for inflicting grave bodily harm on another human being.
The injured Quilox bouncer
“The scene quickly became rowdy as other customers rushed to the table and confronted the artist for his violent behaviour, our security team quickly stepped in to salvage the situation by carrying Oritsefemi out of the club (this is our standard procedure for violent altercations) while other members of staff focused on giving First aid treatment to the bouncer who almost lost his eye and had already lost so much blood.
“Oritsefemi faced by an enraged crowd outside and perhaps realizing the gravity of his offense pretended to collapse. The artist and the bouncer were subsequently rushed to a nearby hospital
“The bouncer affected insisted on pressing charges as thus he and Oritsefemi went from the hospital to Bar Beach police station, where Oritsefemi accepted his offense and pleaded for mercy, he was granted bail at November 12 and 13 and advised to report back to the station on Tuesday November 15, 2016.
“We were hesitant to release a press statement as several well meaning people have attempted to intercede on behalf of the artist, but after his malicious and grossly false account of the events that occurred, it is only fair that we defend the integrity and ethos of our organization.”
When Quilox berthed on the scene, it changed the scene with a luxurious style of nightclubbing. With the absence of a high net-worth and respected nightclub like Niteshift Coliseum, the high and mighty naturally drifted to Club Quilox. At a different time, Governors Akinwumi Ambode and Ibikunle Amosun of Lagos and Ogun States respectively were at the club to unwind. Same with some city billionaires, young tycoons and A-list entertainers. Within its few years of existence, it has arguably earned the nod as Nigeria’s biggest and most expensive nightclub.
But at the same time, the club is gradually becoming a notorious hub for infamous fights between celebrities especially music stars. Quilox has recorded a number of high profile fights and misunderstandings between artists who chose the venue to settle scores.
The first major face-off was a misunderstanding between Chocolate City CEO and rapper, M.I who took to Twitter on Sunday, 1 March 2015, claiming he was disrespected alongside his band while they were performing in the club.
Next was the well-publicised beef between Davido and Shina Peller which according to reports lasted for five months. But months later, the bloody duel ensued when Starboy Records star Wizkid left his colleague, Dammy Krane drenched in blood after he smashed a Whiskey bottle on his head.
And it came to a head with last weekend blood bath involving Oritsefemi and the Quilox bouncers.
Oritsefemi was initially reportedly to have been miffed that his fellow musician, Sound Sultan was prevented by the same bouncers from accessing a particular section of the club which made him pounce on the bouncer, thereby inflicted bodily harm on him.
But Sound Sultan gave a lie to that Oritsefemi’s purported story in an Instagram post saying he was in the VIP section of the club all the while.
As the shading goes on with Oritsefemi taken a dig at Shina Peller on Sunday with the jibe “The only Shina we know is … Sir Shina Peters.”
Shina Peller, on Monday responded to the shade thrown at him by the pop star.
In a thinly veiled clap back, Peller responded with a shot at the ‘Double Wahala’ singer on his Instagram page with a picture bearing the message “Say no to drugs & violence”.
But as the Quilox/Oritsefemi wahala continues, we waited with bated breath how this would be resolve just like the beefs that have happened previously.
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