THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has denied a claim that it has yet to respond to an inquiry by the Lagos State Police Command over allegations bordering on the alleged arrest and detention of the late singer, Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba, popularly known as Mohbad.
The ICIR gathered that the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Idowu Owohunwa, during a press conference on its investigation of the death of Mohbad on Friday, October 6, stated that they are still awaiting “official response from the NDLEA on one of the viral videos containing allegations by the singer on his experience in the agency’s office sometime in October 2022.”
Reacting to this in a statement on Saturday, October 7, the spokesman of the agency Femi Babafemi, claimed that the statement was false, adding that the NDLEA responded to police enquiry since September 28, 2023.
Part of the statement read: “Following media enquiries on the claim by the Lagos state police command at a press conference on Friday 6th October 2023 that it was yet to get a response from the NDLEA on social media allegations bordering on alleged arrest and detention of the late artiste, Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba, aka MohBad, the Agency will like to state that indeed its response was sent and received by the police since Thursday 28th September 2023.
“Indeed, to show the seriousness with which the Agency treated the issue, our formal response dated Thursday 28th September 2023 was sent by flight to Lagos, delivered and received by the police same Thursday 28th September. The summary of our response is reproduced below for the benefit of the inquiring public.”
Quoting the letter it sent to the Police, the NDLEA said it didn’t arrest or detain MohBad in February 2022.
“We also heard the unsubstantiated allegation on social media that Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba, aka MohBad, was arrested and detained by NDLEA on the 24th of February 2022 and given a substance to drink. In response to this allegation, we wish to state categorically that MohBad was never arrested neither was he ever detained in the custody of the NDLEA on the said date or any other date before or after. The foregoing being the case, the issue of giving him any substance to drink does not arise.”
The ICIR, had on September 17, reported that the A agency denied a claim suggesting the late Nigerian singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, aka Mohbad, was poisoned while in its custody.
The agency’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.
Meanwhile, the Police has revealed how the late singer Mohbad, died.
Addressing journalists at the state Police Command headquarters in Ikeja on Friday, October 5, Owohunwa named an auxiliary nurse, Feyisayo Ogedemgbe, as the prime suspect.
Ogedemgbe injected the deceased thrice in his home on September 12, 2023, before he started vomiting and developing goosebumps.
Owohunwa’s revelations are the Police’s preliminary findings into the 27-year-old’s death.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M