Omowunmi, the widow of the late singer Mohbad, has accused his father, Joseph Aloba, of stalling a DNA test meant to settle the paternity dispute involving her son, Liam.
On July 9, 2024, a Magistrates Court in Ikorodu, Lagos, urged both parties to pursue an Alternative Dispute Resolution, but their private discussions failed to yield any agreement.
Following Mohbad’s death, his father had initially requested the DNA test to confirm his grandson’s paternity.
In October 2024, Monisola Odumosu, a representative of the family’s legal team, stated that Omowunmi had agreed to proceed with the DNA test.
The court subsequently instructed both parties to select a laboratory or medical center within Nigeria for the procedure, ensuring it was supervised for accuracy.
However, a disagreement arose over the choice of testing centers.
In a letter dated January 9, 2025, Omowunmi’s legal team, Salawu Akingbolu Chambers, acknowledged rejecting Joseph Aloba’s preference for UCH Ibadan, citing the court’s concerns.
Similarly, Aloba opposed Omowunmi’s choice of Lagoon Hospitals.
To resolve the impasse, Omowunmi suggested The Eko Hospital and Reddington Hospitals, emphasizing transparency in a December 11, 2024, letter. Aloba did not respond.
Omowunmi expressed frustration in her letter, accusing Aloba’s legal team of making false claims on social media that she was unwilling to proceed with the test.
The letter read, “We remain solicitors to the Respondent in the referenced suit and we have her express consent to write this letter to you.
“It would be recalled that we have exchanged a series of letters on the above but we seem not to be making any progress and it is sad. Suffice it to say that after we have duly responded to your letter dated December 5, 2024, which we received and acknowledged on December 9, 2024, we have patiently waited for your response but nothing of the sort to date.
“Although we objected to your choice of the UCH Ibadan because of the fact that the court itself observed for good reason that it is not proper after your client mentioned the same in open court.
“In the same vein, we have conceded all the same to your objection to us using Lagoon Hospitals even though no tenable reasons were given.
“Quite reasonably, in replacement, we chose two other hospitals which are: The Eko Hospital and Reddington Hospitals, just so for us to show that we absolutely have nothing to hide and this was contained in our letter of December 11, 2024.”
She also condemned defamatory remarks made about her son, Liam, by Mohbad’s father on social media, calling the actions unacceptable and ironic given his delay in finalizing the DNA process.
“To our utter surprise however, instead of you responding to our letter of the above-quoted date, we saw Mr. Taiwo Odumosu of counsel, whom we have profound respect for and counsel for the Applicant, saying on social media that we are the ones who are not ready for the DNA, whereas that is not the case, and we are by this letter denouncing any such misrepresentation Mr. Taiwo Odumosu of counsel must have tainted us with on the social media. As a matter of fact, we deserve an apology for such unhealthy allegations,” the letter added.
“Also, and most unfortunate is the fact that we saw the Applicant on social media about three weeks ago, defaming and maligning Master Liam, and quite in his usual manner, portraying him as a bastard and this is very unacceptable, especially as the court had asked him to go and conduct the DNA that he is now obviously and quite surprisingly running away from in an irreconcilable irony. Very laughable.”
Omowunmi warned that if Joseph Aloba continued to delay, she would independently conduct the DNA test and make the results public.
She urged his legal representatives to act swiftly to move the process forward.
“We want to ask you to promptly take steps or advise your client to do all that may be necessary to ensure the timely conduct of the DNA so that we can make progress.
“If your client, however, chooses to continue in this tardy manner and rather prefers the empty social media hype for bad reasons, you will leave us no other option than to conduct the DNA ourselves and publish the same for the whole world to see. We shall inform the court of our position in this regard, “ the letter stated.
In a response on January 11, 2025, Emmanuel Oroko of Hillceetee Partners, representing Aloba, denied the allegations.
He clarified that their counsel, Taiwo Odumosu, did not claim Omowunmi was avoiding the test but rather stated that the proposed hospitals had not yet confirmed their readiness for the procedure.
Oroko expressed respect for the ongoing professionalism in the case but revealed that their firm would no longer represent Aloba in the matter.
“Your letter dated January 9, 2025, with the above caption has been shown to our Mr Taiwo Odumosu and upon his instructions, we respond as follows.
“Mr Odumosu wishes to inform you that there was no time during his media interaction that he mentioned that your client ‘was not ready for the DNA’. What he was saying, which has been misinterpreted, was that the hospitals had yet to respond to enquiries on their readiness to conduct the test. We heard your client express sentiment in that respect after the media interaction.
“Mr Odumosu has absolute respect for your office and your client. He would not in any way derogate the professionalism and maturity both law firms have exhibited so far while the case lasted.”
“This response is necessary as a courtesy to your good self and to set the record straight as our chambers no longer represent the Applicant, “the letter stated.
This comes three months after Mohbad’s wife, Omowunmi agreed to undergo a DNA test to establish the paternity of their only son, Liam.