Music promoter Samson ‘Sam Larry’ Eletu has broken his silence regarding an allegation that he bullied the late singer Ilerioluwa ‘Mohbad’ Aloba, a former signee of his friend and associate Abdulazeez ‘Naira Marley’ Fashola.

When Mohbad died, PREMIUM TIMES reported that Sam Larry and Naira Marley came under intense public scrutiny, with many accusing them of playing a role in the singer’s death.

Both men later voluntarily presented themselves at the Lagos State Police Command headquarters for interrogation.

They were detained for several days before being released after fulfilling their bail conditions.

Since then, they’ve consistently appeared for questioning and participated in the coroner’s inquest.

Eventually, in February, a Magistrate Court sitting in Sabo, Yaba, Lagos, ruled that neither of them was implicated in Mohbad’s death.

However, Mohbad’s father, Joseph Aloba, challenged the court’s decision, and a Lagos High Court has now scheduled a hearing on the matter for 2 July.

Maintaining his innocence, Sam Larry, in an interview with activist Martin ‘VeryDarkMan (VDM)’ Otse, posted on YouTube on Saturday, insisted that he never touched or attempted to assault the late singer.

He said, “I didn’t threaten Mohbad with boys. I only went to the beach to buy something for my child. When I got there, I saw Mohbad and others shooting a video, so I approached them, and some of the beach boys followed me. When I reached where the video was being shot, I told Mohbad he would not leave if he didn’t pay the money he owed me. Zlatan held me back and told me I had passed that level, and that was how the matter ended.

“Nobody touched Mohbad. Zlatan is my witness because he was there. I only saw Mohbad twice in the year he died. The first time was in a club. Naira Marley and I were leaving the club while Mohbad was entering. Naira Marley didn’t see him because I was behind. I have never in my life touched Mohbad or attempted to beat him. The police invited me because of the petition Mohbad wrote, where he falsely accused me of damaging his camera and claimed that Elegushi sent boys to kill him.”

He further stated that the petition Mohbad filed against him before his death was entirely false.

Sam Larry also revealed that when people began accusing him of bullying and being responsible for Mohbad’s death, he approached singer Zlatan to speak out about what truly happened, but Zlatan refused to do so.

He said, “When I realised he was lying, I wrote a counter-petition, but he refused to honour the police invitations despite being summoned several times. He also claimed he was beaten in the club, which is not true—nobody beat him. When people started accusing me of bullying and killing Mohbad, I called Zlatan to speak up and say that I never touched Mohbad.

“Zlatan told me his parents warned him he would vomit blood if he spoke. I begged him to say I didn’t touch Mohbad publicly and to tell the truth that I helped them settle a dispute with the landowners at the beach during the video shoot. After I resolved that issue, Zlatan and I went to eat Amala at Itaamala, while Mohbad said he wanted to go home. It was only Zlatan and I who went to eat.”

He further explained that he intervened and resolved the matter when Mohbad’s car was impounded for driving against traffic on the way to the beach.

“Zlatan knows everything that happened at the beach. When Mohbad died, I was in Dubai, and Naira Marley was in Amsterdam with Zino. The video where I said, ‘All stations settled, no question to answer,’ was from 2013 or 2014 when I was in Kenya.

“They used to call me the King of Settlement (KOS) back then, and that phrase was my usual response. It had nothing to do with Mohbad’s issue,” said Sam Larry.

Furthermore, he claimed that the late singer owed him N2 million, which he paid Mohbad to perform at his birthday celebration.

“I cannot say whether Mohbad was involved in hard drugs, but he had money. People should ask his wife, Wunmi, why he owed people. I miss Mohbad. He was a good person, and I genuinely liked him. Whenever he released songs, I was usually the one who personally promoted him. Wherever I went, he went with me. His wife and manager can confirm this.

“The time I invited him to come and perform for me was around the period of the NDLEA incident. I paid for his flight tickets, visa, and also paid for his wife and manager, but he didn’t show up in Dubai. That’s the money he owed me.”