“I didn’t even know I was going to get out” – Tems recounts her prison experience in Uganda

Nigerian singer, Tems recently opened up about her terrifying arrest and confinement to a tiny prison room in Uganda.

She described her experience to Angie Martinez during an interview.

When she was picked up from her hotel, she thought it was a joke at first, but when she was given a smelly, dirty prison uniform, the reality set in. She was afraid she might not survive.

The Grammy award winner said her tiny cell in prison consisted only of a floor, some blankets, and some tissues.

She was isolated from the outside world for two exhausting days and was unaware of her whereabouts.

The singer started crying as soon as she saw her uniform, which smelled awful. She hoped, but she had no idea if or when she would be freed.

Tems said she created bonds with other female inmates, many of whom were detained for insignificant offences, some of which were the result of prison guard corruption.

Following a performance in Uganda on December 12, 2020, Tems and another artist were accused of breaking COVID-19 regulations, which led to this ordeal.

In her words: “I thought I wasn’t gonna come out. I thought I was seeing it for a reason like maybe I was meant to help the people. I was settling in because I adapted real quick and as I was walking in I started to cry because they gave me my uniform and it stunk because they don’t wash it. It was a small room and there was nothing, there’s just the floor they give you blankets and tissues and you’re just on the floor, no bed and I did it for two days. I didn’t even know I was going to get out, I didn’t have any ears on the ground nobody told me anything. Outside everyone was like ‘free Tems, free Omah lay but inside I was just hopeful, waiting.”