On Tuesday, the Federal High Court in Lagos resumed the trial of music artist Azeez Fashola, also known as Naira Marley, who faces 11 accusations including conspiracy, possession of counterfeit cards, and fraud.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has testified against Nigerian music sensation Naira Marley in connection with the purported Internet fraud accusations levelled against him.
The EFCC arrested Naira Marley in 2019 for his alleged involvement in a credit card scam.
A prosecution witness, Anosike Augustine, a mobile forensic expert with the EFCC, testified against the singer on Tuesday, October 26, 2021.
The witness completed his statement, which he had begun in 2020, immediately before the COVID-19 lockdown, and was led in evidence by the prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo.
According to Anosike, approximately 2,410 brief messages were analyzed from the defendant’s iPhone, and various credit card details were recovered from the iPhone.
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The Apple iPhone, according to the witness, is a sophisticated device capable of storing a vast amount of data, and the sim card is what essentially identifies users of apps like WhatsApp.
According to the witness, 977 Short Message Service (SMS) and 1,433 chat messages were detected on the witness’ iPhone, along with seven pending status update messages.
The witness specifically took his time to read out a plethora of credit card numbers and messages sent from the phone on different dates and times, as well as OTP codes sent.
He listed some of the recipients of the messages to include one Yadd and another Raze.
Naira Marley was arrested by the EFCC in May 2019 alongside males who have since been identified as rappers Zlatan Ibile, Rahman Jago, Guccy Branch, and another unidentified individual.
His trial was one of the most widely aired in the country during its early stages.