Marley is innocent, EFCC should let him go —Management

Management of embattled Nigerian singer, Naira Marley, has come out to say that their artiste is innocent of the crime he is being accused of, insisting that news of him being painted as a criminal in the media should be disregarded.

Marley, who has remained in the custody of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for over a week for his alleged involvement in cyber fraud, otherwise known as Yahoo Yahoo, is already facing an 11-count charge preferred against him by the anti-graft agency, which arrested him and his friends, one of whom was Zlatan Ibile, another popular Nigerian musician.

While Zlatan and others were said to have been released on bail, the anti-graft agency held on to Marley, claiming that he had questions to answer. On Thursday, EFCC said the singer would be docked on Monday.

In a statement released by Marley’s management on Friday, a copy of which was made available to R, it decried the continued detention of their artiste, adding that the items found on him do not belong to him but borrowed by the artiste to upload his music, video and record while he visited Nigeria.

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“Marley is a hardworking artiste who has turned his back on crime and focuses solely on music. He’s an artiste, father and most importantly a human being, who has been making music for a while but only became very popular, following the success of his hit track, Issa Goal. The song celebrated Nigeria and the nation’s contribution to sport. Music is his passion entertainment is the only source he makes his money,” the statement read.

It stated further that the anti-graft agency has not found any hard evidence but his reputation is being tainted and his career being dragged in the mud.

“Cybercrime is a serious issue in Nigeria, one which the government has been tackling actively. No one should be penalised for it even when it is a controversial topic. The real criminals in Nigeria should be focused on, not somebody who is bringing positive attention to Nigerian music and its culture internationally,” it warned.