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

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.

Punch