Joseph Aloba, father to the late singer, Ilerioluwa Aloba, aka Mohbad, was on Monday grilled by officers of the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Alagbon in the Ikoyi area of Lagos State over a petition filed by Oba Saheed Elegushi, Punch reports.
The head of the Aloba legal team, Monisola Odumosu, in a statement on Tuesday, said the petition borders on cyberbullying, cyberstalking, and criminal defamation.
Odumosu explained that the allegation came on the heels of an interview granted by Aloba recently.
The statement read in part, “Mr Aloba was invited by the police and led to the police station by the representatives of his legal team, Teri Wellington and Monisola Odumosu. The petition was written by Oba Saheed Elegushi who alleged that during one of Mr. Aloba’s interviews with a London-based blogger, he was criminally defamed.
“During the interview Mr. Aloba granted the London-based blogger, it was alleged that he said, ‘… his son was bullied and killed on the instruction of Oba Elegushi and that it was one Sam Larry that was sent to do the job.”
According to the statement, Aloba reiterated that defaming or performing any act that constituted or could lead to cyberbullying and cyberstalking Oba Elegushi wasn’t his intention as he was trying to seek justice for his late son.
Odumosu added that the late singer’s father further clarified that he did not have any proof to support the allegation against the monarch except the petition written by his late son and other phone conversations he had with him.
While noting that the monarch, who was present at the meeting, demanded a retraction, Odumosu clarified that Aloba was never arrested or detained.
“In fairness to Oba Elegushi, he only demanded the retraction of the defaming statements made by Mr Aloba on social media.
“Mr. Aloba was never arrested or detained. He was granted bail without stress. It is important to note that Mr. Aloba is still grieving the death of his son. He just lost a single star in the family firmament.
“Any grieving parent may on the spur of the moment make statements that may tend to be unreasonable. We only need to understand the geographical circumstances giving rise to his utterances.”
Mohbad died at the age of 27, on September 12, 2023, with circumstances surrounding his death sparking controversies on social media.
Being a former record label signee of Marlian Music owned by Naira Marley, Mohbad left the label in February 2022. The Lagos State Police Command had on September 18, 2023, inaugurated a 13-man special investigation team to probe the singer’s death.
His death also led to the arrest of Naira Marley and controversial Lagos socialite, Balogun Eletu, also known as Sam Larry, amongst others.
The singer’s body was on September 21, 2023, exhumed for autopsy to unravel the cause of his death.
The US-based lab refuted the claim by the Lagos State Government that the toxicology test was conducted at its facility.
The revelation was in response to inquiries made by our correspondent, who embarked on a fact-finding mission to ascertain the musician’s cause of death.
The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, while responding to inquiries via a live telephone call with Ahmad Isah, the anchor of an Abuja-based online programme, Brekete Family, sometime in February 2024, had said the toxicology test was being conducted at the NMS Labs in Pennsylvania, USA.
However, a pathologist, while testifying before the Coroner’s Court on May 15, revealed that an autopsy couldn’t determine Mohbad’s cause of death due to the decomposition of his body.
Responding to The PUNCH inquiry on May 17, the Client Services Associate, Forensics Division, NMS Labs, Esther Dede, stated, “Unfortunately, we do not have a case for that patient.”
