Music artist Naira Marley investigated the death of the coroner in Ikorodu on Friday in the District Court for review of Ilerioluwa aloba, which testified in a district court in Ikorodu, who was once known as Mohbad.
Naira Marley actually appeared in front of Magistrate Judge Adedayo Shotobi, who said Mohbad signed the record label Marlian Records to contract to produce four albums. But, he said, the albums were never completed due to the ongoing disagreement between the late singer and his manager Opera Babatunde.
Marley denied allegations that he threatened or harassed Mobad and cited police reports to relieve him of him. He dismissed the harassment allegations, saying they “are only in people’s imagination.”
When Mohbad questioned a viral video, Marley and Marlian’s crew were held responsible and if anything happened, Marley claimed that the late singer and his parents later apologized, attributed the video to Mohbad’s drug-affected effects.
“There is no dispute or disagreement between me and Mobad,” Marley said, adding that he was not involved in the singer’s death. He asserted that he had been more than a year before his death, and even did not.
However, Oluwasanmi Falade, the late singer’s attorney, challenged Marley’s claim, confirming that Mohbad and Marlian Records have disputes over unpaid royalties.
“At Mohbad’s insistence, I wrote several letters about royalties to Marlian’s records, but never responded.” Falade testified. He further revealed that the dispute had been escalated into a legal matter in the Federal High Court.
Falade also tells the story of Lekki Beach’s attack on Mohbad, allegedly orchestrated by music promoter Sam Larry. He said he had advised Mohabad to report the incident to law enforcement and despite two failed attempts, police at headquarters tried to arrest Sam Larry.
After the testimony, Magistrate Judge Shotobi summoned Sam Larry to testify at the next hearing on April 11.
The coroner also ordered the sending of witness subpoenas to Mobad’s driver and directed the pathologist to perform an independent autopsy on Mobad, submitting a copy of his findings to the court and the chief coroner.
Speaking to a reporter outside the court, Wahab Shittu, the attorney for Mohbad’s family, admitted that there was no clear evidence yet, directly or indirectly, linking Naira Marley to Mohbad’s death.
“Investigation is crucial to determine the order of the incident and the circumstances that led to his death,” Shittu said, stressing the need to carefully examine all those around the late singer in the last few hours.
Shittu also revealed that he had asked the coroner to summon doctors from two hospitals, where Mohbad was taken away on the day of his death to gain insight into his condition at that time. The witnesses’ subpoena is expected to be issued to them at due time.
