Police interrogate Mohbad’s dad for ‘defaming’ Elegushi

Joseph Aloba, the father to Mohbad, the late singer, has been interrogated by the police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Alagbon, Ikoyi, Lagos over a petition filed by Oba Saheed Elegushi.

Last month, Aloba claimed his late son petitioned the police, accusing Oba Elegushi of instructing Sam Larry, the music promoter, and his cohorts “to kill him”.

“They said a king sent them. I do not understand that part. We have never met. I do not like to lie. I did not see any traces. But it was in the petition that the king sent them to kill him,” he said during an interview.

“My son wrote in the petition that they were sent to beat him to death. And after two and half months he died. My son wrote it and said Sam Larry and his people were sent by Oba Elegushi sent them.”

In a statement, Monisola Odumosu, the legal representative of Aloba, said Elegushi’s petition borders on alleged cyberbullying, cyberstalking, and criminal defamation.

Odumosu said the petition came on the back of the claims made by Aloba in the interview.

“Mr Aloba was invited by the police and led to the police station by the representatives of his legal team, Teri Wellington and Monisola Odumosu. The petition was written by Oba Saheed Elegushi who alleged that during one of Mr. Aloba’s interviews with a London-based blogger, he was criminally defamed,” the statement reads in part.

“During the interview, Mr. Aloba granted the London-based blogger, it was alleged that he said, ‘… his son was bullied and killed on the instruction of Oba Elegushi and that it was one Sam Larry that was sent to do the job.”

According to the lawyer, Aloba said he “did not have any proof to support the allegation against the monarch except the petition written by my late son and other phone conversations he had with him”.

The legal representative also clarified that Mohbad’s dad was never arrested but only asked to “make a retraction”.

“In fairness to Oba Elegushi, he only demanded the retraction of the defaming statements made by Mr Aloba on social media,” the statement added.

“Mr. Aloba was never arrested or detained. He was granted bail without stress. It is important to note that Mr. Aloba is still grieving the death of his son. He just lost a single star in the family firmament.

“Any grieving parent may on the spur of the moment make statements that may tend to be unreasonable. We only need to understand the geographical circumstances giving rise to his utterances.”

Similarly, Aminat Mayegun, the police FCID spokesperson, confirmed to TheCable Lifestyle that Aloba was invited to provide proof of his allegations against Elegushi.

She said Aloba was released immediately on Tuesday, adding that there is an ongoing investigation.

“So we now have to invite him to provide evidence to back up his word. Because it was even Oba Elegushi who wrote the petition against him over defamation of character. But we are still investigating the matter. Oba Elegushi is just trying to tell him that he should bring proof or else he should take back his statements. But the matter is still ongoing,” she said.

“Yes. Definitely, he was released. It was an invite.”

Mohbad died on September 12, 2023, and was buried the following day. On September 21, his body was exhumed by police for an autopsy.

Eight months later, the autopsy failed to determine the cause of death as the singer’s body had decomposed when tests were conducted.

Shortly after Mohbad’s death, an old video surfaced on social media showing the singer being chased away from a music video shoot with Zlatan, the rapper.

In the footage, Larry and some men visited the scene of the shoot and demanded that Mohbad be sent out.

It took the intervention of Zlatan to ensure Mohbad was not hit with what appeared to be a stick from Larry.

The palace of Elegushi of Eti-Osa had denied a widely-circulated claim that Larry was a royal family member.