Almost three years after singer Ilerioluwa “Mohbad” Aloba died, the dispute over a DNA test to determine the paternity of his son, Liam, remains unresolved.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the demand to determine Liam’s paternity began shortly after the singer’s death in September 2023.
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The demands led the Magistrate’s Court in Ikorodu to approve three overseas laboratories to conduct a DNA test, several months after it initially ordered the procedure.
Investigations later revealed that Alpha Bio Labs and Advanced Histopathology Laboratory Limited, which Wunmi, Mohbad’s widow, and the state government’s welfare officer had nominated, had not conducted the DNA test.
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Following this discovery, Mohbad’s father, Joseph Aloba, expressed disappointment, alleged betrayal, and appealed to the Lagos State Government to select an appropriate hospital for DNA testing.
Speaking yesterday, after Chief Magistrate Salamah Matepo of the Magistrate Court in Ikorodu adjourned the matter to 11 August to continue hearing a motion that counsel to the Aloba family had filed, Mr Aloba reiterated that the DNA test is a must.
He said, “I’m Mohbad’s father, representing the Aloba family. This DNA is a must, and I’m saying it for the whole world to assist. I’m happy to see people interested in this case. This DNA is beyond ordinary paternity; we’re tracing what killed Mohbad.
“It’s beyond knowing Liam’s paternity alone, because Mohbad’s death wasn’t natural. As Mohbad’s father, this DNA is what’s delaying his burial. He is a young guy. They said the day we see evil, it must be addressed.”
After exhumation
Mr Aloba said his insistence on a DNA test to determine Liam’s paternity stemmed from what he discovered after Mohbad’s exhumation.
“That’s why I buried him so fast, but when they exhumed him, a lot was revealed to me. We needed to do the DNA before burying him; the body is evidence.
“The DNA, we are still on it. We are still proceeding with it. It is just an adjournment from one place to another. So we are still on it,” he said.
Following the court proceedings, counsel to the Aloba family, Oladayo Ogungbe, stated that confirming the child’s paternity through a DNA test would provide the family with some measure of closure.
He said, “We applied for the Certified True Copy. It was on that basis that Aloba said, ‘Okay, to clear all doubt as to the cause of death, let us confirm if indeed this Liam is Aloba.’ The boy is innocent. It will serve as a respite. That is why they called it the application for DNA, and we’ve been on it for years.
“Only for them now to bring another action, demanding DNA. That means the Aloba family wasn’t wrong after all in demanding DNA, because if a mother is filing an action for the DNA of her own son, that is not something to be desired.”
New date
Additionally, Mr Ogungbe noted that a mother’s decision to file a suit seeking a DNA test for her own son left much to be desired.
“In reaction to that, the moment we discovered it, we filed an application, a notice of plenary objection, because we considered that action an abuse of judicial process. We filed the necessary application, and the order that was granted, in fact, the order that was granted on the 5th day of May 2026, we were not aware of.
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“We filed an action, and we filed a motion for the court to set it aside, because there cannot be a parallel proceeding on the same DNA matter. It is unheard of. So that is the position. So, for this one, we will pursue a date, because according to the information, the matter has been concluded and there is a subsisting order,” he noted.
He added that Wunmi and other parties had asked the court to select a DNA centre whose identity would remain undisclosed to all parties involved.
“So that is when the matter was adjourned for the hearing. Then we discovered something else, and we did the appropriate thing. I won’t say more than that. They want the court to designate a centre that will not be disclosed to any party. They want the court to take the sample. And we are saying no.”
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