Veteran rapper Ruggedman has said he has no hand in the arrest of Naira Marley and four others by EFCC.
In a statement yesterday,rebutting those accusations he said:
“My fellow Nigerians and the Distinguished members of the Press, .
I have read and heard all sorts of comments pertaining to the Naira Marley case and seen the misinformation making the rounds which is quite unfortunate to say the least. .
I do not know Naira Marley personally, the same way I do not know the over 300 Nigerians I have gotten justice for against police brutality. I do it because it is who I am. .
All I did was caution a young artist, who has influence, against making utterances about an issue that by global standard is considered a crime. I believe correcting this was the way to go as an elder, but got insulted for this even by those being misled. .
I never responded to Naira Marley’s invectives nor those of his fans, same way I have not responded to any of the negative comments from social media.
I note that saying I was “happy in a way” about his arrest has evidently frayed some nerves and for that I apologise. It was in hope that it would serve as deterrent for persons who might consider the said ills or need to make a u-turn. .
It by no means was intended to wish for his downfall. It perhaps was not a good choice of word in hindsight. I do not look forward to anyone’s downfall but rather hope we all learn from the situation. .
I hereby state categorically that I had nothing to do with his arrest. We all must recall that he glorified fraud on a public platform where security agencies like the Police, NDLEA and EFCC are also on. .
I am sure they saw his posts and captions the same way we all did. I, however, was the one that cautioned him. I guess this was what led all the darts and arrows my way as a literal mortal retribution to my person. .
Despite the disrespect to my person, I got nothing against him and only longed for him to be discerning and utilise his position of influence appropriately.”