Security officials in Nigeria's largest city of Lagos are holding Afrobeats star Small Doctor over unlawful possession of firearms and for allegedly threatening to shoot a police officer.

The artist whose real name is Adekunle Temitope was arrested along with three other suspects on Monday.

"It was alleged that some unknown men, four of them, in an unregistered green SUV had brought out a gun and threatened a policeman that if he does not leave the road, they will shoot him," Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, is quoted as saying in local media reports.

The artist was a bus conductor before he released his debut album Omo Iya Teacher in 2015, according to Premium Times newspaper.