Rapper Naira Marley has finally been granted bail and is set to be released from EFCC holding cells after weeks of incarceration.
The rapper was in court this morning for his bail hearing and good news coming from the court indicates that Naira Marley has been released and is awaiting the final trial.
At the hearing, his lead defense counsel Olalekan Ojo rendered an apology for Naira Marley’s absence at the initial arraignment on May 20 and attributed his absence to heavy rains.
Lawyer Ojo urged the court to accept the bail application Prima Facie based on the presumption of his client’s innocence in accordance with Section 162 (1)
The defense also pleaded with the court that a liberal approach is taken in the hearing.
The prosecution counsel, led by Rotimi Oyedepo, on the other hand, disagreed and stated that it is not the temporary release of the singer that mattered but the final judgment.
He, therefore, pleaded with the court to accelerate the trial rather than grant Naira Marley bail.
He argued that since the defendant is a celebrity, his actions and inactions could have a serious effect on young people in the country who support him and his music.
Justice Nicholas Oweibo who presided over the bail hearing after listening to both sides granted the singer bail to the sum of two million naira.
The trial has been adjourned to 22nd, 23rd and 24th of October for accelerated hearing.
