I Regret Saying I Was Happy About Naira Marley’s Arrest

Following the bail granted Naira Marley by an Ikeja High Court sitting in Lagos during the week, after temporarily staying in EFCC custody for charges bordering on credit card fraud, veteran rapper, Ruggedman, who before Marley was arrested had condemned him for encouraging cyber crime, has stated that if he knew the case would escalate to the level it did, he would not have lashed at him openly.

“If I say I’m not disturbed to know how crazy this Naira Marley case has gotten I’ll be lying. I commented and cautioned him like I would do as a senior colleague to a younger colleague because for me I knew and I could see that what he was saying was not going to go well with a lot of people; especially the authorities, and that’s why I did what I did. If I’d known it was going to get this bad I wouldn’t have said it anywhere I was happy he was arrested, insinuate or joke about fraudster or anything around him”, he said.

While advising the public to quit sending negative vibes the rapper’s way, he added that irrespective of all that has transpired, Naira Marley remains his colleague in the music industry.

“No matter what happens, he’s still a junior colleague in the industry. If people that I don’t know randomly call on me about SARS issue and I carry the matter on my head to get justice for them, why in the world would I want to do something that would bring down a young artiste? That’s not Ruggedman if you know me you know me. What he does not need right now is a lot of unnecessary negative vibes. I’ve seen all the comments and threats and everything. But what I’ll say is God bless everybody because we learn by what happens every day and what we do.”

He, however, urged the rapper’s family, friends and fans to show him love and support because he is experiencing hard times.

“What he needs right now is family, some serious support, some people around him and a very good lawyer. I pray he has that to plead his case. I wish him the best and I hope that everybody learns from this that we need to be guarded on things we do and say. Because whether you’re a musician or not, there are laws; there are rules and regulations. Whether the government is helping or not, it doesn’t mean we break rules because we have authorities who keep everybody in check. I really wish and pray that he comes out of this well. I wish him luck and I wish everybody luck”, he said.