The management of the National Medical Services Laboratories in Pennsylvania, United States of America, has refuted the claim by the Lagos State Government that a toxicology test to ascertain the cause of the death of singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, aka Mohbad, was conducted at its facility.

The claim by the NMS Labs was in response to inquiries made by our correspondent, who embarked on a fact-finding mission to ascertain the musician’s cause of death.

Before embarking on the fact-finding mission, some concerned members of the public reportedly protested against the claim made by a pathologist, who appeared before the Coroner’s Court on Wednesday, May 15, and said an autopsy could not ascertain Mohbad’s cause of death because his corpse had decomposed.

PUNCH Metro had reported that the counsel for the state government, O. Akinde, told the Coroner’s Court sitting in the Ikorodu area of the state sometime in November 2023 that a toxicology test, which is an aspect of an autopsy seeking to determine the cause of Mohbad’s death, was conducted in the United States.

Buttressing this claim, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, while responding to inquiries via a live telephone call with Ahmad Isah, the anchor of an Abuja-based online programme, Brekete Family, sometime in February 2024, said the toxicology test was being conducted at the NMS Labs in Pennsylvania, USA.

“The matter is being handled by the state DNA and Forensic Centre, but they are doing skeletal services, and they have affiliate centres which are three.

“So, if there is an emergency like this one that we have, they will not say they cannot handle it. So, there are three of them in the US and the one handling this particular one is the NMS in Pennsylvania, USA,” Omotoso said during the live programme.

The result of the test reportedly arrived in Nigeria sometime in April 2024 and was passed on to a pathologist for interpretation.

Appearing before the coroner’s court, the pathologist disclosed that the autopsy could not ascertain the cause of Mohbad’s death because the corpse had decomposed.

However, during the fact-finding mission, our correspondent independently verified the location of the NMS Labs on 3701 Welsh Road Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, and that of two NMS crime labs on Stratford Avenue, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, and another at Grand Prairie in Texas.

The single e-mail address that these labs had been using for correspondence was also discovered on the NMS Labs’ website and our correspondent sent an inquiry to confirm if a toxicology test to ascertain Mohbad’s death was conducted at their facility.

The inquiry read in part, “I am a journalist from Punch Newspaper in Nigeria, currently working on a story involving the death of Nigerian hip-hop artiste, Ilerioluwa Aloba, aka Mohbad.

“Following the Lagos State Government’s active interest in the case, the state Commissioner for Information revealed that the government conducted a toxicology test on the late artiste at your facility. Here is the link where he said so at 32:21 (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW59DTJZV3I?si=ty0OaXJSTvfuC4Oz).

“However, conflicting reports have emerged, casting doubt on whether or not the toxicology test indeed took place at your facility. As a journalist committed to factual reporting, I am independently reaching out to your facility to verify the authenticity of this claim. Clarification on this matter will contribute significantly to resolving the discrepancies surrounding the artist’s demise.”

Responding to PUNCH Metro on May 17, the Client Services Associate, Forensics Division, NMS Labs, Esther Dede, refuted the claim by the state government that Mohbad’s toxicology test was conducted at any of their laboratories.

“Unfortunately, we do not have a case for that patient,” Dede said.

Dede, however, noted, “To maintain our compliance with HIPAA privacy regulations, we would need authorisation from the submitting agency.”

When contacted on Wednesday, the Commissioner for Information, Omotoso, said that was the name of the lab given to him by the state DNA and Forensic Centre.

“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.”

Mohbad died at the age of 27, on September 12, 2023, with circumstances surrounding his death sparking controversies on social media.

Being a former record label signee of Marlian Music owned by Naira Marley, Mohbad left the label in February 2022. The Lagos State Police Command had on September 18, 2023, inaugurated a 13-man special investigation team to probe the singer’s death.

His death also led to the arrest of Naira Marley and controversial Lagos socialite, Balogun Eletu, also known as Sam Larry, amongst others.

The singer’s body was on September 21, 2023, exhumed for autopsy to unravel the cause of his death.

madridguy:
I pray we don't have a governor as weak as Sanwo-Olu again in Lagos State. The man is just to weak and gentle to be a governor of a state like Lagos State.

What exactly is your business with Mohbad death. His wife and friends that invited a fake nurse for him are roaming freely around but you as a governor you're going around doing town hall meeting and allowing some junknalists to be splitting all over your body.

Lizzysamuel:


So this is your response to the barefaced lie the government told Nigerians?

To be a Zonb no be small thing.

Pythagoras001:
this reasoning is largely the reason why we are largely an underdeveloping economy. Politicians have ensured the collapse of our educational system

richiemcgold:

Wasting of money is all I see here.

Why do we have spiritualists, prophets, seers, oracles and traditionalists? I can recommend at least five of them that I will personally vouch of their ability to give accurate account of who, what and where Mohbad was killed (that's if he was truly killed). This is no joke pls. Ifa is real; orunmila don't give misleading facts, some Cherubim and Seraphim prophets too are very good at unraveling mysteries. Unfortunately we no dey appreciate what is ours.

Lizzysamuel:


So this is your response to the barefaced lie the government told Nigerians?

To be a Zonb no be small thing.

madridguy:
I have no business with what is coming for a weakling man called governor. I have always asked myself, what exactly is Lagos State business with the singer's death.

Biodun556:


He even said nothing concerns governor with killing of citizen

It is amazing

DMerciful:
The governor is there to serve the people. When there's popular demand for the state to investigate the death of one of its indigene or resident, the governor obliged.

The demonstrations requires that he obliged to calm the situation. Another end sars would have been terrible for Sanwo-Olu