Entertainment

I have two wives and four children, I’m not a criminal —Naira Marley

Published

5 years ago

May 28, 2019

Musician Azeez Fashola, popularly known as Naira Marley , says he has two wives and four children who are all British citizens .
He said he is not a criminal and has no idea what the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission found on his laptop .
Naira Marley , who claimed to be 28 – years old , said apart from storing his songs and music videos , he had never done anything illegal with his laptop .

The artiste said this in his statement on oath which he made while in EFCC custody, which was obtained exclusively by The PUNCH.
The artiste , who identified himself as a Swedish Yoruba man , wrote , “ My name is Azeez Fashola.

“ I am married to two wives and I have four kids . They are all British citizens staying in the United Kingdom .
“ I studied in the United Kingdom , started studying at Porlock Hall , then I moved to Walworth School where I received my GCSE .
“ My results for my GCSE are English ( C ) , Maths ( B ) and Science ( C ) .
“ I left Walworth School with my qualification and went further to study at Peckham Academy , where I got distinction in Business .
“ Then, I went further to study at Crossways College where I finished my Business Law ; but I had kids at that time , so I took a break and started making music till date . ”
According to Naira Marley, he did not own a laptop but was given one to use temporarily to upload videos on YouTube .
He said , “ I started making music in 2014 individually ( sic ) , but now I’ m signed to Marathon , a United Kingdom – based record label .
“ I had a deal with Coca – Cola for my song ,
Issa Goal , in which I featured Olamide and Lil Kesh .
“ I also had deals with Nike to participate in the Nigerian sportswear ( sic ) .
“ I’ m in possession of a MacBook laptop, which I borrowed from a friend named Yad Isril in England , because while returning to Nigeria, I knew I was going to need a laptop to upload my music videos on YouTube and also to keep my exclusive songs . ”
Naira Marley added , “ I’ m in possession of the laptop but I have no idea what is on it apart from my music videos . ”
According to the artiste , the said laptop had no password and could be accessed by anyone .

He claimed to have met Isril in a secondary school in England .
“ He owns the butcher ’ s and an electronics shop in England . He is a British citizen , though his family is from Iraq .
“ I don’ t have a personal laptop at the moment because I don’ t need it .
“ My management team handles everything I need to do on the laptop. I only use my iPhone X for everything I do , ” he said .
The EFCC had arrested the artiste on May 10 , 2019 together with Omoniyi Temidayo ( aka Zlatan Ibile ) and three others for alleged advance fee fraud .
Following his arrest , the anti – graft agency filed 11 charges against him .
The charges with suit number FHC /L / 178C /19 were filed before a Lagos State High Court.
The artiste was later arraigned before Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos , on May 20 , 2019 .
Following his arraignment , Justice Oweibo ordered that Naira Marley be remanded in prison custody until May 30 to take the bail application filed by the defence counsel , Taiwo Oreagba , on behalf of his client .