Veteran Nigerian rapper, Ruggedman in a new video has expressed regret about making embattled Nigerian singer, Naira Marley’s case a public one.

According to Ruggedman, if he had known that the Naira Marley case would have been taken as serious as this, he wouldn’t have condemned the younger artist on a public domain.

Ruggedman said,

“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.

Ruggedman further 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.”

It would be recalled that Naira Marley was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in connection with internet fraud popularly called yahoo yahoo. His arrest came on the heels of his vocal support for internet fraudsters known as yahoo boys whom he had said are not criminal but need prayers as they make money circulate in the economy.

Ruggedman had cautioned Naira Marley about this view but Naira Marley had also opined that anyone who knows the history of slavery would understand that yahoo yahoo is not a crime.

Following his arrest, Naira Marley was arraigned in court and had a bail hearing on May 30 and having been granted bail, he is expected to be released on Jun2 3rd when he would have met his bail conditions. (The Guardian)

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