Naira Marley Breaks Silence On Mohbad’s Death

Controversial musician, Azeez Fashola, popularly known as Naira Marley, has spoken publicly about the death of his former signee, Ilerioluwa Aloba, a.k.a. Mohbad, months after being acquitted of any wrongdoing by the court.

Mohbad died on September 12, 2023, at the age of 27, sparking nationwide protests and global calls for justice.

In February, a Magistrate’s Court in Yaba, Lagos, cleared Naira Marley and music promoter Sam Larry (Samson Balogun) of any involvement in Mohbad’s death.

The court also released Mohbad’s associate, Ibrahim Owodunni (Primeboy), and his former manager, Babatunde Opere.

However, in July, the Ikorodu Coroner’s Court recommended criminal charges against Feyisayo Ogedengbe, the auxiliary nurse who treated the late singer shortly before his death.

Magistrate Adedayo Shotobi ruled that Ogedengbe acted with gross negligence by administering injections without a doctor’s prescription, describing the act as both “unlawful and professionally negligent.”

In a video released Tuesday night on the Marlian Music YouTube channel, Naira Marley addressed the controversy, insisting that he neither bullied nor killed Mohbad.

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He said: “I’m doing this video today for my whole Marlians around the world, the ones that stood by me when it was peak, especially the ones that are like ‘Naira Marley might have bullied him, but he didn’t kill him.’ No, I didn’t bully him, and I didn’t kill him.”

The singer also recounted his journey since relocating to Nigeria in 2018, his arrest by the EFCC in 2019, and the rapid rise of his music career.

According to him, fame came with challenges that made it difficult to live in Nigeria, despite having family ties in the UK.

Speaking on Mohbad’s troubled years before his death, Marley highlighted the late singer’s battles with the NDLEA, an attempted suicide, a fallout with his manager, lawsuits with his distributor, and his issues with Sam Larry.

He added: “Even after the NDLEA issue, the attempted suicide, the fight with his former manager, the lawsuit to the distributor, the termination letter, the situation with him and Sam Larry, even after all of this, Mohbad still told people he wanted to come and apologize, but I didn’t know he was gonna die. If I knew, I would have probably let him come, but it was just too much for me at that point.”

Naira Marley also reiterated that he was out of the country when Mohbad died, stressing that he had travelled to Amsterdam to spend time with his children.

“I was not in Nigeria. I went to Amsterdam. I will show you video with time and date. My main reason travelling out of Nigeria – I wanted to spend time with my kids. As you can see, I surprised them nicely,” he said.