A High Court in Lagos has scheduled July 2 to deliver judgment in the case filed by Joseph Aloba, father of the late singer Mohbad, challenging the legal advice issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), which exonerated key suspects linked to his son’s death.
Acting on the DPP’s legal advice, the Yaba Magistrate Court, in February, ruled that Naira Marley, Sam Larry, Prime Boy, and Pere Babatunde had no case to answer in connection with Mohbad’s death.
However, in March, Aloba filed a lawsuit contesting the clearance of the suspects, arguing that the decision was premature as the coroner’s inquest into Mohbad’s death had not yet concluded.
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At the most recent hearing, presiding judge Taiwo Olatokun scheduled the judgment date after hearing submissions from Wahab Shittu, counsel to Aloba, and Joke Amachree, who appeared for the respondents.
Shittu contended that the DPP’s legal advice was issued prematurely, as it cleared the suspects while the coroner’s inquest was still underway.
Amachree, who represented the Lagos State Attorney General and the DPP, argued in response that the suspects were discharged, not acquitted—leaving room for the case to be reopened should new evidence surface.
“The respondents admit paragraphs 8 of the affidavit-in-support of the motion, only to the extent that its officers participated at the hearing of the inquest into the death of the late Oladimeji Aloba,” they wrote in their counter affidavit filed on June 24 by Ayinde Ibrahim, a legal assistant in the office of the DPP.
“And also to the extent that upon conclusion of investigation by the police investigators into the death of the deceased, the investigators forwarded a duplicate case file to the office of the 2nd respondent (DPP) for the purpose of review and issuance of a legal advice
“Contrary to the deposition in paragraph 4 and generally in the applicant’s affidavits, the suspects who were released by the 2nd respondent’s legal advice, were not acquitted but were only discharged.
“The respondents denies the deposition in paragraph 7 of the applicant’s affidavit in support, as the presiding coroner is yet to pronounce a verdict which implicates the released suspects.
“Contrary to the deposition in paragraph 8 of the applicant’s affidavit, the said Oluwaseun Akinde Esq. from his experience as counsel knows as a fact that the police is bound to send the duplicate case file to the respondents in any case file in which a prima facie case of an offense triable by information is disclosed, such as the one under reference is disclosed.
“Further to the above, the respondent states that at no time did the presiding coroner into the death of the deceased issue any directive that mandated the respondents to inform it of the conclusion of the 2nd respondent’s review of the duplicate case file which is the conclusion captured in the legal advice sought to be quashed by the applicant.”
They further urged the court to throw out Aloba’s application, insisting it was in the interest of justice.
Mohbad passed away under unclear circumstances on September 12, 2023, triggering widespread public outrage.
October 2023 saw the arrest of Naira Marley and Sam Larry over allegations connecting them to Mohbad’s death.
They were granted bail in November of that same year after spending more than five weeks in detention.
