A short video, taken on a cell phone, quickly went viral on Nigerian social networks on the afternoon of September 12: we can see three young men, crowded into the back of a car going at full speed; a body is lying on their knees, bare-chested, inert. “Mohbad is dead! », shouts one of them, in tears. A few hours later, the death of Afrobeats singer, real name Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba, was confirmed in a hospital in Lagos, the vibrant and chaotic Nigerian economic capital. Without explanations. His body was buried the next day.
Since then, the agitation surrounding this mysterious death has not weakened in Nigeria, cradle of a powerful music industry which floods the continent’s playlists and beyond. Mohbad was not one of those stars who fill venues in the UK or US, like Davido or Burna Boy, but a 27-year-old rising star, appreciated for his warm voice and for songs like Peace, Sorry or Feel Good, evoking his determination to become rich and famous, despite his very modest origins – an obsession in this very unequal oil country.
A week after his death, a white march demanding “Justice for Mohbad” or “Justice for Imole” (one of his nicknames, meaning “light” in Yoruba) brought together thousands of people in Lagos, the beating heart of Afrobeats. At the concert that followed, Davido himself took the stage, in front of a crowd lit by the light of candles and cell phones.
A special team of investigators
On the Internet, rumors abound – poisoning, overdose, maybe black magic? –, like the messages of condolence and the choreography videos on its main titles. With crazy energy, the students of the Dream Catchers Academy, which takes in orphaned girls or girls living on the street to train them in dance and arts professions, have delivered several tributes to her on social networks. Their school is located in Ikorodu, the same neighborhood in northern Lagos, huge and popular, where Mohbad came from. He gave his last concert there, two days before his death. “Here it was a shock, there is a lot of emotion,” says Seyi Oluyole, the director of the establishment. Many of these children have lost family members, and they see themselves in Mohbad. He was just a young guy chasing his dream, and we think he was bullied, really bullied, for that reason. »
If, beyond the mysterious causes of his death, the affair takes on such magnitude, it is because, according to numerous testimonies from fans and relatives, the singer was, in fact, harassed by figures of the music industry. An online petition has garnered 250,000 signatures accusing one person in particular: Naira Marley. This afrobeats star was taken into custody on Tuesday October 3, joining one of his associates, Sam Larry, at the Lagos police headquarters. The latter – known for its brutal repression against youth during the EndSars movement against police violence in 2020 – is particularly diligent on the case: it set up a special team of investigators and finally exhumed Mohbad’s body for an autopsy, the results of which have not yet been made public.
The sulphurous and provocative Naira Marley, 32, is well known to the Nigerian justice system. In 2019, the man with fine dreadlocks and heavy golden necklaces of various shapes – map of Africa, revolver, etc. – was arrested and prosecuted by a financial brigade for suspicion of fraud in the wake of his hit Am I a Yahoo Boy, where he praises the very famous Nigerian online scammers. Barely released after several weeks in cell, he immediately released Soapy, a song unambiguously glorifying masturbation in prison. The title became a considerable success.
Naira Marley also runs a music label, Marlian Music, who signed Mohbad when he started in 2019. After a few years of collaboration, their relationship deteriorated violently. In 2022, Mohbad accused the teams of the label, which he wanted to leave, of having beaten him for this reason, publishing videos showing his bloodied back. Video against video, post against post, Naira Marley for his part referred the singer to addiction and mental health problems, while the latter affirmed, in October 2022: “My life is seriously in danger. » He finally left the label.
Illegal networks and illegal money flows
“Today there is this idea that Mohbad had given us clues, crumbs of information that we could not see or did not understand. Now people want to understand. There is this feeling of injustice and also this phenomenon where an artist becomes greater in death, like in American hip-hop with a Tupac or a Biggie [both shot dead in the 1990s].” , deciphers Oluwamayowa Idowu, editor-in-chief of the Lagosian magazine Culture Custodian.
On Friday evening, police announced that Naira Marley, along with Sam Larry, remained in custody for “death threats, cyberstalking and various crimes committed against Mohbad” but were no longer suspected for his death itself. Two of his friends, Prime Boy and Spending, also arrested, are however considered to have played a role. The first got into a fight on the night of Ikorudu’s concert with Mohbad, resulting in deep injuries. To treat them, the second brought an unqualified nurse to the singer’s home who administered three injections. She is now considered the main suspect.
As elsewhere in the world, music industry melodramas – artists against artists, artists against labels – are common in Nigeria. Except that the West African giant is a deeply informal country, where shady networks and illegal money flows are important. “Typically, it is very common that some of the money that finances the music industry has a lot of connections with the criminal underworld,” continues Mr. Idowu. With the global success of afrobeats, artists see their careers explode and their label keeps 40% or 50% of the revenue, adds this journalist and lawyer, citing several examples of violent disagreements. None, however, went this far, “to their knowledge”: “This episode illustrates the tension that exists in the artistic environment, and particularly in a very informal society where, in the event of disagreement, people do not go to the front of the courts. »
At Mavin Records, one of the major Nigerian labels, which has notably signed Rema and Ayra Starr, we say we are confident that the Mohbad affair – an “incredible talent” – will not shake up an entire industry which has spawned dozens of artists each year and represents, with Nollywood cinema, significant income and influence for Nigeria. “But contracts must be as legal as possible. They should be written, documented, like in all other sectors, and this is something that we lack, argues Temitope Agbeyo, public relations manager of Mavin Records. Artists and labels, we are business partners. There shouldn’t be: “we’re friends, let’s go together.” »
