Kizz Daniel: Buga Star Arrested in Tanzania, One Month After Boycotting Show in US. Here’s Everything We Know.

African AlertsAugust 9, 2022

3 minutes read

Nigerian singer Oluwatobiloba ‘Kizz Daniel’ Daniel who has been enjoying rave reviews across the world since the beginning of the year for his back-to-back hit songs, is presently making news headlines for the wrong reasons.

Kizz Daniel

Reports emerged on Monday, August 8, 2022, that Kizz Daniel was arrested in Oysterbay, Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania, for failing to show up at a high-powered concert he was billed to headline.

‘Vado the great’ was slated to perform at Warehouse, Old Nextdoor Arena in Tanzania, but he failed to turn up, much to the exasperation of fans gathered at the venue waiting to be thrilled by the chanteur.

Show promoters claimed fans paid up to $5,000 and $10,000 to attend the show but Kizz Daniel, whose arrival in the country earlier in the day had been highly-publicised on social media, refused to leave his hotel room, claiming his airline had misplaced his bag containing the clothes and jewelries he planned to use for the concert.

Distraught fans had taken to social media on Monday morning to lament and lambast Kizz Daniel.

In a viral video shared on social media by displeased fans, Kizz Daniel was seen being led to a van by the Tanzanian police, a voice raged from the background: “Kizz Daniel, you’ll go in for it. He’ll cause damage to this country. He must go in for it.”

We called and sent messages to Str8up Vibes, the event management company behind the show; its representative, Samwel Masaki, said he could not talk.

“Can’t talk now, call me later,” Masaki wrote when a Netng correspondent called him on Monday evening.

When we contacted Oysterbay Police Station, Der es Salaam, where Kizz Daniel is currently being held, communication was bumpy as the call centre representative couldn’t communicate in the English language.

Meanwhile, Stephen Uwa Ojiekhudu, founder of Big Step Consultancy, the show promoters who handled the event, explained why the singer was arrested in a live video hosted on Instagram by OAP Daddy Freeze.

“He’s been locked up here; he’s still at the station. He only said the airline didn’t bring his bag, which is why he can’t perform,” said Ojiekhudu.

“Because his gold chain was not there, even though he had a gold chain on his neck, he said he could not perform. That show wasn’t a joke; the table for that show was set for 5 thousand dollars while the highest table was set for 10 thousand dollars.”

Ojiekhudu said he begged Kizz Daniel to show up at the concert and also called Nigerian music executive Paul O who also spoke with the singer on phone.

“Paul O spoke with him (Kizz Daniel) from the U.S urging him to perform, but he didn’t listen,” Ojiekhudu said.

Meanwhile, this is not the first time Kizz Daniel has been embroiled in a back and forth with promoters and shunned events when he was billed to perform.

On July 8, 2022, Kizz Daniel earned a lot of criticism after he showed up four hours late to his show during his USA tour, only to perform for about a few minutes. The crowd weren’t having it, though, as papers and cups were thrown on the stage as they screamed “refund”.

In 2017, Kizz Daniel’s erstwhile record label G-Worldwide also accused him of refusing to attend some events, based on his own volition, even though his management had approved them.

“Kiss Daniel, however, made it a habit to turn up at events late or not at all, always blaming the label for his truancy”, the label wrote.

“Clear examples include his failing to appear at Reekado Banks’ album listening party and 2face’s Buckwyld ‘n’ Breathless concert. He did this even when 2Baba had provided two separate accommodations for him and his manager at Eko Hotels. He stood up 2face and his manager from 6 pm till 1 am the next day, claiming that he was on his way, but he never showed up. He repeated the same behaviour at the Chronicles of Ushebebe show, Soundcity’s 2016 MVP Awards, and many others.”

In 2015, Kizz Daniel shunned his father’s burial, alleging that his then record label prevented him from attending the funeral. This was debunked by the label, who claimed that they had accompanied him on the trip back home and had paid for his hotel accommodation. Still, Kizz (at the time Kiss) refused to attend his own father’s burial based on the fact that he believed that his family was fetish.

Presently, the Tanzanian police are yet to issue any official statement regarding the star’s arrest, and there is no information concerning bail or hearing.

There’s been no word from Kizz Daniel’s team regarding report of his arrest.