The Punch Metro reports that the alleged car theft case against Nigerian hip-hop singer, Azeez Fashola, aka Naira Marley; his two brothers, Idris and Babatunde Fashola; and cousin, Kunle Obere, may be settled out of court.

Four counts of conspiracy, stealing, assault and obstructing the police against the defendants were filed before the Lagos State Magistrates’ Court at Tinubu.

While police arraigned Idris, Babatunde and Obere on December 16 hearing, Naira Marley was not present at the court.

During the last hearing on December 31, 2019, the magistrate, Mr Tajudeen Elias, threatened to issue an arrest warrant against the singer.

But after much persuasion by Naira Marley’s lawyer, Ayodeji Awokulehin, the magistrate further adjourned the case till January 14, 2020.

While chatting with journalists outside the courtroom, Awokunlehin said his client had initiated an out-of-court settlement discussions with the complainant, Mr Adelekan Ademola. Recall that Ademola alleged that Naira Marley and three others stole his Toyota Camry car with Registration No. FEE120AA valued at N1.8m and an iPhone X5 worth N330,000.

The lawyer was hopeful that the case would be settled out-of-court before the adjourned date.

The police have no problem with an out-of-court settlement; we hope that an agreement will be reached before the next adjourned date,

Awokulehin said.

The police prosecutor, Edet Okoi, had told the court that the defendants committed the crime on December 15, 2019, at Eko Hotel Roundabout, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Okoi said,

One of the vehicles in the musician’s motorcade hit the complainant’s vehicle from the back while he was throwing out money from his vehicle to his fans.

When the complainant came down from the vehicle to inspect the damage, Obere entered the complainant’s Camry and drove it off with the motorcade. Ademola reported to the police and the vehicle was tracked to where it was parked at Jakande Crescent, Oniru in Lagos.

When the police arrived at the location in company with the complainant, Naira Marley and his boys started beating the complainant.

A group of boys obstructed the police from arresting the musician but they were able to apprehend the three defendants.

The prosecutor told the court that the defendants’ actions were contrary to sections 112,172, 287 and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.