By Fasuyi Tolulope Samuel
Nigerian singer and Marlian Music boss, Naira Marley, has finally broken his silence on the tragic death of his former signee, Ilerioluwa Aloba, popularly known as Mohbad.
In an emotional narration, Naira Marley insisted he had no hand in the demise of the late singer, stressing that he was not even in the country at the time the sad news broke.
According to him, the first time he heard about Mohbad’s death, he dismissed it as false information.
“Someone among us said, Mohbad dead. I looked at him, I said, it’s a lie man, he wants to blow again. Exactly what I said, it’s a lie. I said it’s a lie, he wants to blow again. I didn’t even bother. Zeno looked at me straight away. I said, ah… Like, people should know what they will be saying, you know. I’m like, ah, come on, man, people know we’re not in Nigeria, obviously.”
The Marlian Music executive added that it was shocking when blogs began spreading different versions of the story and linking him to the tragedy.
“I went on Instagram. I can see InstaBlog saying Mohbad died of air infection. Okay, I’m like, air infection? All of us saying, was he dead? I’m like, they’re lying, man. Air infection, lying. How can you die of air infection? I’m still saying that. Twitter, boom, boom, boom. ‘Nagamali, finally you’ve killed him.’ What? Is it a joke?”
Naira Marley explained that despite being abroad at the time, he was quickly accused online, with people dredging up old incidents involving Mohbad.
“Immediately I’m saying they started posting videos from the NDLEA incident. They started posting videos from the fight he had with his manager on the 4th of October 2022. They started posting videos from there. Why? I don’t understand. Is that what killed him? You said he died on the 12th of September 2023. You’re posting videos. So I know, I can see already that there’s someone paying the blogs to try changing the narrative.”
Read: Naira Marley Mentions Who to Investigate Over Mohbad’s Death
The singer revealed that he had evidence proving his absence from Nigeria when the incident occurred.
“I wasn’t in the country. I can show you my passport stamp. And when I go back to Nigeria, everything… someone even saw us. But it’s still in the restaurant, they’re blaming me. We were planning to go shoot a video in Amsterdam. But now we can’t even shoot the video. We didn’t even have time to mourn because of people blaming us for what we didn’t do.”
On viral videos linking his associate, Sam Larry, to Mohbad’s troubles, Naira Marley urged people not to misinterpret the clips.
“My first time seeing that video was when we all saw the video. I’m like, what the hell was this? But I wasn’t fast to judge like everybody. I knew that video was not on that day because Sam Larry was not in Nigeria too. He was in Dubai, Kenya, Paris. That’s what made me ask questions. He said he saw him, he wanted to collect his money, he tapped the chair. But he didn’t touch him for real. But I can already see they’re posting my videos. So I’m thinking, why are they posting this video now? Did he die there? That’s not what killed him.”
Naira Marley emphasized that despite the accusations, he remains deeply hurt by Mohbad’s passing and regrets not being able to grieve properly.
“We didn’t even have time to mourn him properly. Sometimes I tried to, but whenever I mourned him, there was a message saying I killed him. I was sad. I was trying to mourn him, but I didn’t get to mourn him properly.”
The Marlian boss concluded by maintaining his innocence, stating firmly that he had nothing to do with Mohbad’s untimely death.
