'We’ll do separate autopsy on Mohbad' – Late singer's family

The family of late Nigerian musician Ilerioluwa Aloba, also known as Mohbad, has announced that he would have a separate autopsy.

Mohbad, aged 27, died on September 12, 2023. He was buried the next day at Ikorodu, Lagos.

Following the public outrage, the Lagos state government ordered a coroner’s inquest to ascertain the cause of death.

Richard Somiari, director of the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre, testified before the coroner’s inquest on Wednesday, stating that the autopsy results for Mohbad will be ready in less than one month.

However, according to PUNCH, Monisola Odumosu, the family’s legal counsel, stated that the family will petition the state high court for a separate autopsy and toxicology test.

According to the lawyer, Mohbad’s family believes the Lagos government’s test is “taking time” and is concerned about the procedure used to conduct the autopsy.

Odumosu further alleged that no medical professional represented the family at the time the autopsy was conducted.

“We filed an application at the Coroner’s Court on Wednesday to conduct our own autopsy and toxicology test, but the Magistrate said he did not have the power to approve that and told us to approach the High Court,” he said.

“We are already preparing our documents to go to the High Court so that we can ask for permission to organise our own autopsy and toxicology test. We have been planning this before now because we feel the government is too slow.

“They disclosed on a radio programme about three weeks ago that they were just about to send it to the US and that may take about 10 to 12 months, which is too long considering the fact that they had taken a sample from the body almost five months earlier. So why do we have to wait for so long?

“Secondly, when the autopsy was being conducted, representatives of the family should have been someone who is well-informed on the issue of the autopsy; an expert who would confirm if it was properly done. But they just called anyone.

“We are also planning to do it in the United States. Another reason why we took the decision was because, for instance, if someone is poisoned, at a point in time, it will evaporate, and no test can discover it. So, we don’t want to wait until that has happened before we think of doing our test and discover that nothing was found.”