MY FLUTE IS MY LIFE!
Tee Mac Omatsola Iseli recounts ordeal in the hands of hoodlums; saying, without his flute, his life is incomplete

In defiance of the popular Yoruba adage that, “when someone steals the royal flute, people are waiting to see where he will blow it,” armed robbers who robbed PMAN President, Tee Mac Omatsola Iseli of his precious flute and cash recently, may be facing a similar challenge. According to the veteran flutist, the instrument was customized and made for him in 1992 by a Japanese, Mr. Muramatsu. Tee Mac’s ordeal in the hands of hoodlums on Oke Afa Bridge, Isolo, on his way back from the birthday bash of his friend, Chief Chris Mbanefo’s dad, recalled to mind the spate of attacks on popular acts in Nigeria and beyond.

For instance, Afropop artiste, TuFace Idibia is still recuperating from gunshot wounds following an attack by hoodlums in Lagos. In South Africa, reggae star, Lucky Dube was unlucky as armed robbers snuffed life out of him, right in the presence of his son.

Two weeks ago, it was the renowned flutist and President of the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria, Tee Mac Omatsola, who escaped death by the whiskers from daredevil robbers on Oke Afa bridge, Lagos, while returning from the birthday bash of the father of Chief Chris Mbanefo, who turned 80 on that day.

In utter disregard of his celebrity status, the hoodlums pounced on him and dispossessed him of his money and his much-cherished flute. So, who stole the Tee Mac’s clarinet? Where will the thief blow it? This is the question still agitating the minds of the police and fans of the veteran artiste who is yet to recover from the trauma and come to terms with the fact that his Japanese-made flute is gone.

My Story
It was shortly after midnight and I had no premonition that such a thing would happen because it had been a beautiful day. My friend, Chris Mbanefo’s father, was celebrating his 80th birthday. To honour him, I went to the party and I played classical music on my Muramatsu hand-made flute. Everything went smoothly. After-wards, we left the party for home. Until we descended the Oke Afa Bridge at Jakande Estate, Isolo. Joe, my driver and Sunday, my P.A, had done a lot of running around. So I decided to drop them off.

When we got to Oke Afa, we ran into a checkpoint after the bridge. We saw men dressed in camouflage uniforms and flashing their torchlights. We thought that they were policemen because they were dressed in camouflage. It was about 12:30 am. So we decided to stop as responsible citizens.

Trapped
We thought that they were policemen. But the way they shouted at us was very rude. It rang wrongly! I was alarmed. Policemen do not shout like that. I knew something was amiss. I instantly knew they were fake. But it was too late to move. We had already stopped and they were pointing guns at us. They asked if anything was in the boot. One forced the car door opened and jumped in. Another used his gun butt to hit me.

Identified
Unable to bear it anymore, Teemac challenged the robbers: “I am a musician. What do you want from me?”

“We know that you are Teemac. But we want your money,” the hoodlum retorted. The late elder statesman, Nnamdi Azikwe once said, “It is only a mad man that fights a man with a gun.” Teemac, it would seem, borrowed a leaf from the wise saying: “I gave them my bag which contained money, my passport, my ID card and my drivers’ licence. They took my gold wristwatch and cut my neck-chain. They tried to forcefully remove the gold ring on my finger. But they couldn’t because it was too tight. All the while, I was praying that they would not spot my hand-made flute.’’

They were not through yet
They searched every corner of the car. I tried to push the flute under the seat, but it did not go. They noticed it and took it along with my CD and disc player. They took my driver’s money, cleaned out his pockets and asked him to lie down on the road. They hit my chest with gun butt and they just cleaned us out!

Locked us out
After the armed robbers left, they drove straight to the Isolo Police Station to make a report. But the gate was securely locked with many ‘Rapid Response’ cars neatly parked inside. It took about 40 minutes for them (police) to mobilize and come to the scene of the crime. Before they arrived, the robbers were gone.

The flute is my life
That flute was specially made for me. It’s my life. At this time, I don’t have a good flute to play with and that’s very sad for a professional like me. I have lost a couple of shows. Until I go abroad to buy a new one, the going would be rough.

My worry/advice
I’m worried to the degree that the incident is affecting my show business because nightlife is being killed. I want to make a proposal to government and police. They have so many new cars, so they should have stations in Ikoyi and Victoria Island, where, every hour, anybody who wants to leave the Island could meet up with armed convoy that would go to the mainland. People living in Ikeja should also have such an arrangement. That is how it is done in other countries.

We will not give up
We must not give up because of armed hooligans. I will still go out at night. They cannot threaten me.