Nigerian rapper, Ruggedman, has said he has been receiving threat messages after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) announced that rising artistes, Naira Marley, real name Afeez Fashola and Omoniyi Temidayo Raphael aka Zlatan Ibile, will soon be arraigned.
Others are Tiamiu Abdulrahman Kayode, aka Rahman Jago, Adewunmi Adeyanju Moses and Abubakar Musa.
Tony Orilade, EFCC Head of Media, said the suspects were still in detention.
“They are still with us and expectedly will be arraigned in court this week. No date has been fixed yet but as soon as I confirm, I’ll let you know”, the spokesman said.
However Ruggedman, in a statement said despite the disrespect to his person, he has nothing against Naira Marley and hopes he will be discerning and utilise his position of influence appropriately.
He said:
“I have read and heard all sorts of comments pertaining to the Naira Marley case and seen the misinformation making the rounds which is quite unfortunate to say the least.
I do not know Naira Marley personally, the same way I do not know the over 300 Nigerians I have gotten justice for against police brutality. I do it because it is who I am.
All I did was caution a young artist, who has influence, against making utterances about an issue that by global standard is considered a crime. I believe correcting this was the way to go as an elder, but got insulted for this even by those being misled.
I never responded to Naira Marley’s invective nor those of his fans, same way I have not responded to any of the negative comments from social media.
I note that saying I was “happy in a way” about his arrest has evidently frayed some nerves and for that, I apologise. It was in hope that it would serve as deterrent for persons who might consider the said ills or need to make a u-turn.
It by no means was intended to wish for his downfall. It perhaps was not a good choice of word in hindsight. I do not look forward to anyone’s downfall but rather hope we all learn from the situation.
I hereby state categorically that I had nothing to do with his arrest. We all must recall that he glorified fraud on a public platform where security agencies like the Police, NDLEA and EFCC are also on.
I am sure they saw his posts and captions the same way we all did. I, however, was the one that cautioned him. I guess this was what led all the darts and arrows my way as a literal mortal retribution to my person.”
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