Unanswered questions one year after Mohbad’s death

Despite continuous investigation to unravel the true circumstances surrounding the death of late singer, Ilerioluwa Aloba, aka Mohbad, the air remains thick with unresolved questions and lingering grief.

On September 12, 2024, while his family quietly commemorated the first year anniversary of his death, the shadows of uncertainty loomed larger than ever. Fans and loved ones are left grappling with a profound sense of loss and a desperate yearning for clarity.

The singer had died in controversial circumstances on September 12, 2023 and there has been no concrete account for what led to the death of the late singer, though there have been wide and wild speculations from diverse quarters.

In this piece, Saturday Beats takes a look at significant steps that have been taken towards the unraveling of the reason behind his death so far

Inconclusive autopsy results

Despite the fact that the body of the late singer was exhumed for the purpose of an autopsy to determine his death on September 21, 2023, just eight days after his burial, there have been no results to tell what killed Mohbad. An autopsy which was conducted at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital revealed that there was conclusive proof of the cause of his death in May 2024. A pathologist, Sunday Osiyemi, who appeared before the Coroner’s Court on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, had said the autopsy could not ascertain Mohbad’s cause of death because his corpse had decomposed before the test was carried out. The result was met with vehement rejection from concerned fans and even the family of the late singer who demanded an independent post-mortem and toxicology.

Prior to that time, the counsel for the state government, O. Akinde had told a Coroner’s Court in Ikorodu in November 2023 that a toxicology test which was an aspect of the autopsy test was conducted at the National Medical Services Laboratories in Pennsylvania, United States of America. However, following an investigation by PUNCH Metro, the Client Services Associate, Forensics Division, NMS Labs, Esther Dede, refuted the claim by the state government that Mohbad’s toxicology test was conducted at any of their laboratories.

Meanwhile, in a recent interview, the head of the Aloba family legal team, Taiwo Odumosu, said a second autopsy and toxicology test is being conducted as directed by the court using a European laboratory.

Doubts about Liam’s paternity

Shortly after the death of Mohbad, his father, Joseph Aloba, raised some reservations that he had about the true paternity of Liam, Mohbad’s son. He stated that the death and exhumation of Mohbad’s corpse had opened his eyes to many things that had been going on before Mohbad died, including the constant fights Mohbad was having with his wife, Wunmi. He had said, “When Mohbad was exhumed, it felt like scales were lifted off my eyes, and I could see her real personality. I started observing her actions and seeing how deceptive she could be.”

He noted that he had spoken about carrying out a DNA test with Wunmi but she refused to release Liam for the test.

Mohbad’s father had also revealed other happenings that had made him doubt the paternity of Liam.

“I heard Mohbad did not collect the placenta of his child, and they (him and his wife) were contending with conducting a DNA test. Also, there was blood in the house; and is that not suspicious? Why was blood in their house, and what kind of fight did they have? Adura, my other son, was there, and he said he was always settling fights between Mohbad and Wunmi. Perhaps, the frequent fights were because my son had doubts about the paternity of his son, Liam,” he said.

Aloba added that Liam had some physical attributes that were not typical of the children born in their family. He said, “We are not bow-legged in my family, but Liam is. All my children are tall and they look alike, but this boy doesn’t look like us.”

On Wunmi’s part, she demanded that Mohbad’s father should present a court order if he wanted her to do a DNA test to ascertain Liam’s paternity. Her late husband’s father then went to post a court order granting the go-ahead for the test to be done on the gate of Wunmi’s former residence.

In a recent development, a court sitting on July 9, 2024, directed both parties to explore an alternative dispute resolution over the issue, leading to closed-door negotiations that ultimately failed to yield an agreement.

Lingering Investigations

Even though the police have conducted a series of investigations to ascertain the cause and individuals behind Mohbad’s death, there have been many setbacks that have resulted in no answers.

On September 18, 2023, the Lagos State Police Command inaugurated a 13-member special investigation team to probe the late singer’s mysterious death. Subsequently, a coroner’s inquest was established to unravel the case. However, it is still under investigation.

As part of the investigations, his former label boss and CEO of Marlian Entertainment, Naira Marley, along with his associate, Samson Eletu, also known as Sam Larry, were arrested for bullying the late singer after several evidence linking Naira Marley and Sam Larry to cyberbullying, physical abuse, threats to life, and assault against the late singer surfaced online. On October 6, 2023, they were arraigned and remanded in custody for their involvement in the circumstances surrounding Mohbad’s death.

A Magistrate’s Court sitting in Yaba later granted them bail in the sum of N20m with three responsible sureties.

However, in a more recent court session, several witnesses were summoned, including Naira Marley, Sam Larry, Mohbad’s sister-in-law Karimot Ogunbayo, Mohbad’s lawyer, Oluwasanmi Falade; the nurse who treated Mohbad during that period, Feyisayo Ogedengbe; and the driver, Fidelis Esanbor, who took him to the hospital. They failed to appear in court.

The head of the Aloba family’s legal team, Taiwo Odumosu, stated that the magistrate might issue subpoenas to compel their attendance and might even find them in contempt of court if they did not appear at the next court session.