Malian singer and guitarist, Rokia Traoré, has been arrested and detained in Italy over an outstanding two-year prison sentence in Belgium in a child custody dispute, prosectors in Brussels have confirmed.

Traoré was reportedly arrested on Sunday after she was sentenced in absentia last October on charges of parental abduction, after fleeing France in 2020 when she was due to be handed over to Belgian authorities.

Italian media reports on Tuesday that the award-winning musician was arrested at Fiumicino airport in Rome after she flew into the country for a concert.

“Ms Traore’s arrest in Italy follows a decision by the Brussels Criminal Court on October 18, 2023, which sentenced her in absentia to two years imprisonment for failing to hand over a child to the person entitled to custody,” prosecutors in Brussels told journalists.

Media reports say Traoré had been arrested in Paris in March 2020 on a European arrest warrant over a Belgian court ruling ordering her to return her daughter to the child’s Belgian father.

She was also said to have defied a ban on leaving France and flew home to Mali several months later, before she could be sent to Belgium.

“Ms Traoré was initially detained in France in 2020 on a Belgian arrest warrant after failing to heed a court order to hand over her child to her Belgian father,” a French news outlet said.

“Months after she was conditionally released, she flew out to Mali on a private flight, defying a ban from leaving France until her extradition to Belgium.

“Last October, Traoré was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison by a court in Belgium on charges of parental abduction for failing to hand over a child to the person entitled to custody.

“Her daughter, who is now aged nine years, has lived in Mali since turning four.

“A lawyer for the child’s father, Traoré’s former partner, reportedly said he had not had any contact with his daughter since then.

“When she was initially arrested in 2020, she had been travelling from Mali to Brussels intending to appeal against the custody ruling.

“Mali’s government then came out in support of the singer, saying that she had a diplomatic passport.”

Traoré who is one of Africa’s best known vocalists, has won several awards, including the BBC Award for World Music in 2004 and the 2009 World Music Album of the year in the Victoires de la Musique, the French equivalent of the Grammys.

She is also known for her advocacy work for refugees, becoming a goodwill ambassador for the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees in 2015 in West and Central Africa.

Ahead of the much anticipated celebrity wedding between Nigerian Afrobeat sensation, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, and his baby mama, Chioma Rowland, scheduled for Tuesday, June 25, his musical rival, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, aka Wizkid, has stirred another controversy.

With the momentum gathering in anticipation of the wedding, Davido has been sharing updates, pre-wedding photos of himself and Chioma as well as the invitation cards for a select few.

On Monday, Wizkid took to his verified X handle (formerly Twitter), to post a cryptic tweet which many Netizens believe was indirectly targeted at Davido.

“Saying a prayer for every understanding woman on earth! Your king loves you,” Wizkid wrote.

Though the post seemed to be a sort of prayer, many see it as a subtle sub on Davido.

Mixed reactions have since trailed the post as some fans of both singers have had their say.

While some fans of Davido believe Wizkid was shading Davido’s soon-to-be wife, Chioma, who has stuck to the “Unavailable” crooner despite his many scandals when it comes to women, fans of the “Star Boy” say the post was just a harmless wish for the intending couple.