THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has denied a claim suggesting the late Nigerian singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, aka Mohbad, was poisoned while in its custody.
In an X post on Saturday, September 16, the NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi argued that the deceased was not one of the Marlian Music artistes and others arrested by the agency in 2022, as speculated by many, adding that it makes it impossible for Mohbad to have been poisoned in its custody.
Babafemi’s rebuttal came in response to a widely circulated video of the deceased that surfaced on the internet, where he claimed he was harassed and given a white substance to consume.
The late singer was distressed in what looked like a hospital setting as he recounted his ordeal at the NDLEA custody.
In the video, MohBad said: “They gave me water to drink. It was inside a bottle of water plastic. They said I was using drugs. I was the only one who drank it; they didn’t give others to drink. I won’t lie. Then they told me to go home and told the others to wait.
“They even hit a gun on my head. I saved Zino in that video, but Zino snitched on me.”
Addressing the allegation, Babafemi shared a link to a report by an online platform, TheCable Lifestyle, which detailed the arrest of six people—comprising two females and four males—specifically, Oniyide Azeez (known as Zinoleesky), Owoeye Michael, and Abimbola Ogbe.
Others are Dominica Chinwe (f), Olaolohun Shubomi Mariam (f), and Ibrahim Alawo (m).
“This is an authentic account of the arrest and detention of some Malian artistes in February 2022, an incident that has now been twisted by purveyors of fake news to say Mohbad was poisoned or detained by the agency.
“I hope they’ll be bold enough to defend their claims when the hand of the law catches them,” Babafemi tweeted.
The ICIR, had reported that Mohdad passed on at age 27 on Tuesday, September 12. Various allegations have trailed his death.
He was signed to Marlian Records, Naira Marley’s record label, between 2020 and 2022 as he started his music career. He released his debut extended play, ‘Light’ in 2020, with eight songs featuring Davido, Naira Marley and Lil Kesh.
Until his death, Mohbad was nominated for several awards, including The Headies Awards and was also listed in Audiomack’s top 21 Afrobeats artists of 2021.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M