Naira Marley, Zlatan Ibile to appear in court, says EFCC

Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Monday said the arrested Nigerian musicians, Afeez Fashola (aka Naira Marley) and Omoniyi Temidayo Raphael (aka Zlatan) will be arraigned in court.

The duo were arrested on Friday alongside Tiamiu Abdulrahman Kayode, Adewunmi Adeyanju Moses and Abubakar Musa in connection with an alleged case of internet fraud and money laundering.

Tony Orilade, EFCC’s spokesman, in a chat with The Guardian, said they will soon be charged to court.

“As soon as we are ready to go to court, we shall inform you accordingly,” Orilade told The Guardian on Monday morning.

The Nigerian law stipulates a maximum of 48 hours of detention without a court order. It is unclear if the agency had received a remand order to further detain the suspects. Hence they might be arraigned or bailed today in absence of a remand order.

The anti-graft agency on Friday had said it found and recovered a number of items, including laptops, from the suspects.

The commission said the suspects have so far volunteered useful information about their involvement in the alleged criminal activities, even as investigations continue.

Naira Marley is controversial for repeatedly praising internet fraudsters, popularly called Yahoo boys, in his songs and on social media.

He recently released a song ‘Am I Yahoo boy?’ in collaboration with Zlatan Ibile.