Mohbad's Burial Delayed by DNA Test Dispute Nearly Three Years Later

Almost three years after singer Ilerioluwa “Mohbad” Aloba died, the fight over a DNA test to confirm the father of his son, Liam, is still ongoing.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the push for a DNA test started shortly after the singer's death in September 2023.

This led the Magistrate’s Court in Ikorodu to approve three foreign labs to carry out the DNA test, months after it first ordered it.

Further investigations showed that Alpha Bio Labs and Advanced Histopathology Laboratory Limited, which Wunmi, Mohbad’s wife, and the state government’s welfare officer suggested, had not done the DNA test.

After this discovery, Mohbad’s father, Joseph Aloba, expressed his disappointment and sense of betrayal. He appealed to the Lagos State Government to choose a suitable hospital for the DNA test.

Speaking yesterday, after Chief Magistrate Salamah Matepo of the Ikorodu Magistrate Court postponed the case to 11 August to continue the hearing of a motion filed by the Aloba family’s lawyer, Mr Aloba insisted a DNA test is crucial.

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.”

Mr Aloba explained that his push for the DNA test came after what he learned following 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.

After the court session, the Aloba family’s lawyer, Oladayo Ogungbe, said confirming the child’s paternity with a DNA test would help the family find some closure.

He stated, “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.”

Mr Ogungbe also said that a mother’s choice to seek a DNA test for her own son raised many questions.

“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.

“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 choose a DNA center whose identity would stay hidden from 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 center that will not be disclosed to any party. They want the court to take the sample. And we are saying no.