A number of young Nigerian men have taken to Ruggedman's page to threaten him with death after he spoke out against internet fraud and condemned budding rapper Naira Marley for defending it.
Shortly after Naira Marley made a case for internet fraudsters (Yahoo Yahoo boys), he was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
But some young Nigerians seem to think Ruggedman is responsible for his arrest and they are now referring to him as a "snitch" and threatening to deal with him if he sets foot in certain places. Some even went as far as wishing death on him and laying curses on his generation.
Ruggedman has apologised for the arrest of Naira Marley in a lengthy Instagram post and he got support from a number of his fellow celebrities as they told him he did nothing wrong and has no reason to apologise.
See some of the threats Rugggedman has received below.
He replied:
Why would I want an artist arrested? What will be my gain?
I have read and heard all sorts of comments pertaining to the @nairamarley case and seen the misinformation making the rounds which is quite unfortunate to say the least.
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 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 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.
May God bless you all and yes that includes those wishing me evil and threatening me. Nothing will change who I am and I will keep you all in my prayers.
God bless us all.
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