Francis Amo
Police allegedly arrested gospel musician, Francis Amo following a dispute with the Church of Pentecost over the ownership of a song.
Speaking in an interview on Radio XYZ on Tuesday, he explained that he had been invited by the police for questioning but was subsequently arrested before being granted bail later that day.
“I was later invited by the police for questioning, only to get there to be told I am under arrest. But I was granted bail and released in the evening,” he said.
According to him, the arrest stemmed from a cover version he recorded from a Church of Pentecost song titled “Ne Din Ne Jesus.”
He said he had initially been invited by the church to perform the song at one of its programmes but later felt inspired to produce a different version.
“I was invited by the Church of Pentecost to sing the song in praise, but while I was ministering, I felt a different oil on the song, and that triggered me to produce a worship version,” he said.
“I felt the song needed to go to another level because its lyrics were very powerful. It had evangelism words, and I also have the capacity for that, so I went on to do that cover,” he added.
Francis Amo noted that about two weeks after releasing the cover, he received a notice from the church asserting ownership of the song, which led to the dispute.
He, however, confirmed that the matter has since been resolved out of court, with both parties agreeing to settle it privately.
“I later got a call from the Pentecost board, and we’ve agreed to drop the case and settle it privately. Everything is fine now. It is all ok,” he said.
The musician added that the cover song has been taken down following the resolution.
Despite the settlement, he expressed concern about the impact of the incident on his family.
“As someone in the kingdom, I am not surprised. But as a human being, I feel very pained because of my children. My children ended up finding out that I was arrested on social media,” he said.