Nigerian singer Bella Shmurda has revealed that he once stole and sold a neighbour’s son’s bicycle for ₦7,000 to raise money for a studio session.

The singer made the revelation in an older Echo Room interview that has resurfaced online, bringing renewed attention to an experience from his early days as an aspiring musician.

Bella, whose real name is Abiola Ahmed Akinbiyi, said the incident happened while he was living in Okoko, Lagos. The bicycle belonged to a boy whose family lived upstairs in the same building, while Bella lived downstairs.

According to the singer, he took the bicycle at midnight, hid it and later sold it at Alaba for ₦7,000. He said the money helped him pay for half of a studio session at a time when he was struggling to fund his music.

Bella recounted the incident in full, saying:

“If my mom hears this, she’ll be angry. When we lived in Okoko, I once stole my neighbor’s son’s bicycle and hid it at night. I sold it in Alaba for ₦7,000 to pay for studio sessions. I’ve seen him since and bought him a new bicycle.”

The singer's account of the incident was originally shared during his Echo Room appearance, which dates back to around 2022. The clip resurfaced on social media on September 9, 2026.

Bella also previously explained that the money from the bicycle went towards a studio session, describing the decision as painful while recalling the circumstances surrounding it. He said he eventually made amends by finding the boy and buying him another bicycle.

In another Echo Room interview discussed earlier this year, the singer recalled working at a packaging factory in Ikorodu for ₦20,000 a month before his music career took off.

Bella rose to prominence with his 2019 single ‘Vision 2020’ and its remix featuring Olamide, which helped push him into the Nigerian music mainstream.