Long Overdue – Naira Marley Formally Denies Involvement in Mohbad’s Death

In the midst of an ongoing investigation, Nigerian Afrobeats music superstar Naira Marley, publishes a statement denying any involvement in the unfortunate death of his former signee Mohbad.

Naira Marley, a.k.a. Azeez Fashola, declared on Tuesday that he intended to fly back to his country in order to assist with the current inquiry into the terrible death of Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba, popularly known as Mohbad. The news was shared via a message posted on Naira Marley’s official Instagram account by his management group.

Mohbad’s sudden death has sparked a whirlwind of debates over how it happened, with many people theorising Naira Marley’s participation in the wake of their breakup. Naira Marley vehemently denied having anything to do with the terrible event in response to the accusations and threats that have surfaced since Mohbad’s passing.

READ ALSO: Nigerians Rally In Lagos After Death Of Afrobeats Star, Mohbad

READ ALSO: Mohbad: Tragic Death Of A Rising Star

To fully grasp the influence of the late singer, Street-pop, an Afrobeats subgenre characterized by existential lyrics and real-life stories of overcoming adversity, has been on the rise for the past five years. The epicentre of that wave was Mohbad.

Naira Marley expressed his sorrow for Mohbad’s passing in the statement, saying that he considered him to be more than just a former signee but also a brother and a member of their musical family. He bemoaned the flood of lies and threats that had been hurled at him in the wake of this catastrophe.

Naira Marley officially denies any involvement in Mohbad’s death.

Accuses “hirelings” for tarnishing his image, and say Mohbad was killed to set him up. pic.twitter.com/iu5a9kFkmv

— Joey Akan (@JoeyAkan) September 26, 2023

“There has been a lot of onslaught on my person and reputation globally over the death of my former signee in the last few days,” Naira Marley said. As a result of his premature passing, all kinds of tales have been concocted to cast blame on me. The different lies circulated about me and the threats made against me have left me in shock in addition to the death of the deceased, who I regarded to be my brother and a part of our musical family.

He continued to make it clear that neither directly nor indirectly did he contribute to Mohbad’s tragedy. He stressed that their differences were never as dramatic as some have suggested, while he admitted that disagreements are frequent in the profession, even among close friends. Before Mohbad’s unfortunate death, Naira Marley disclosed that they were attempting to settle their business disagreements through the judicial system.

The artist explained why he chose to keep quiet up to this point, citing his emotional pain from the loss and his desire not to jeopardise the on-going government probe.