U.S LAB DENIES CONDUCTING TOXICOLOGY TEST ON LATE NIGERIAN SINGER, MOHBAD’S BODY
Read Time:4 Minute, 15 Second
Contrary to the claim made by the Lagos State Government, the management of the National Medical Services Laboratories in Pennsylvania, United States of America, has denied conducting a toxicology test to ascertain the cause of the death of singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, aka Mohbad, at its facility.
The NMS Labs made the assertion in response to questions posed by journalists, who started an investigation to determine the musician’s cause of death.
Prior to starting the investigation, some worried citizens allegedly demonstrated against a pathologist’s assertion that Mohbad’s cause of death could not be determined by autopsy because his corpse had decomposed. The pathologist made this claim on Wednesday, May 15, when he appeared before the Coroner’s Court.
Earlier, it was 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.
In a related development, 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, a journalist (name withheld) 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, Texas.
Meanwhile, the single email 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 artist, 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 artist at your facility.
“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 the inquiry 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 was quoted as saying by The Punch.
Dede, however, noted, “To maintain our compliance with HIPAA privacy regulations, we would need authorization from the submitting agency.”
Reacting to the medical facility’s response 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.
He 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.”
Mohbad died at the age of 27 on September 12, 2023, with circumstances surrounding his death sparking controversies on social media.
Mohbad, a former record label signee of Marlian Music owned by Naira Marley, left the label in February 2022. On September 18, 2023, the Lagos State Police Command 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 exhumed on September 21, 2023, for an autopsy to unravel the cause of his death.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0