Following the mysterious death of Nigerian singer, Ilerioluwa Aloba (Mohbad), the circumstances surrounding his passing have become even more uncertain as the National Medical Services Laboratories in Pennsylvania has refuted claims that it conducted a toxicology test on the deceased singer’s body, a claim initially made by the Lagos State Government.
NMS Labs, in response to queries from The PUNCH, dismissed claims that Mohbad’s case was handled at their facility, asserting that they did not have any records of the deceased singer being a patient.
Esther Dede, Client Services Associate at NMS Labs, Forensics Division, categorically denied conducting Mohbad’s toxicology test at any of their laboratories.
“Unfortunately, we do not have a case for that patient,” Dede was quoted as saying by The PUNCH.
Dede continued: “To maintain our compliance with HIPAA privacy regulations, we would need authorisation from the submitting agency.”
In response to the revelation by NMS Labs that they did not perform Mohbad’s toxicology test, Lagos State’s Commissioner for Information, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, stated that the name of the laboratory had been provided by the state’s DNA and Forensic Centre. Omotoso’s comment reflects the growing confusion and uncertainty surrounding the singer’s death, as even the government’s own officials are seemingly unsure about the information they have received.
The commissioner said, “This was what I was told by the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre officials who took the sample there. We are dealing with the officials of the centre, they have three other labs that they have affiliations with. If they have an emergency, they can go to any of the three labs. I asked which particular one did they go to and they answered it was that one. That means I will have to go and check again because that was what I was told.”
In December 2023, SaharaReporters revealed that Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had earlier claimed that a toxicology test to ascertain the cause of Mohbad’s death was conducted outside Nigeria because there were no facilities to perform such tests in the country.
The governor made this known during a town hall meeting held in Lagos in December 2023, where he addressed questions about the lengthy investigation into Mohbad’s death.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu explained that the #EndSARS protest of 2020 led to the destruction of the only forensic facility in the state, hence the need to conduct the toxicology test abroad.
The governor said, “Security is not about emotion, it’s serious business. I remember I met you three years ago. Like you said, there’s no emotion. I’m standing in front of you. There’s no emotion. It’s not emotional. We will do the job. We will do it well. These are police officers, the Mohbad case is still live. They’re treating it.
“We had to take the forensics out. The forensic (laboratory) that we built that is the best in sub-Sahara Africa was burned down during #EndSARS. We have to take the test out. They’ve done all their reports, not only when it comes back that we can tie the two together. There are people that are in detention as we speak; we have not released them.”
