The family camp of late singer Mohbad has rejected moves by state-linked authorities to oversee the DNA process for confirming the paternity of his son, Liam Aloba.
Team Justice in Nigeria and the Diaspora insisted that excluding Mohbad’s father, Joseph Aloba, is baseless. “The law is straightforward. The person who contests paternity and requests a DNA test controls the process. In this case, that person is Mohbad’s father,” the group said.
They added: “DNA tests are private medical procedures unless ordered by a court or required in a criminal investigation. No Lagos court has ordered a DNA test, and the police report does not classify the DNA as a forensic necessity. Therefore, the state has no lawful jurisdiction to impose itself.”
The group also raised concerns about public trust, noting the controversy surrounding the singer’s exhumation and autopsy. “Allowing state structures that handled the controversial exhumation and produced an inconclusive autopsy and toxicology report to supervise the DNA process again may erode public confidence,” Team Justice warned.
The coalition demanded that samples be collected by experts chosen by the father and tested in two separate laboratories in the US and UK, under a verifiable chain of custody. “Any plan to carry out the sampling under court or government supervision… threatens public confidence,” they said.
The dispute follows Mohbad’s death on September 12, 2023, which sparked investigations and court interventions. A Magistrates Court in Ikorodu recently rejected a fresh application asking for court-supervised DNA testing in an unnamed foreign lab.
Team Justice dismissed the proposal as an attempt to “exclude Baba from the process he initiated or replace an internationally verifiable multi-lab plan with an unnamed foreign lab.”
