The long-running search for answers over the death of Nigerian singer Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba, popularly known as Mohbad, has entered a new phase following the approval of a fresh investigation requested by his family.
According to the family’s lawyer, Oladayo Ogungbe, Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu approved the petition seeking a comprehensive reinvestigation into the circumstances surrounding the singer’s death and directed the matter to the Lagos State Police Command.
The petition, according to Ogungbe, was submitted to the IGP on April 14, 2026, and received at Force Headquarters, Abuja, on May 7.
The family raised concerns about what it described as inconsistencies in the earlier investigative process and requested a comprehensive forensic reconstruction of the circumstances surrounding Mohbad’s death.
The case has subsequently been assigned to officers of the Special Enquiry Bureau (SEB) for further investigation.
Ogungbe said a representative of the Aloba family had already been invited and had engaged with the new investigative team.
“The family’s representative has since been invited and has engaged with the new team of investigators assigned to the matter,” Ogungbe said.
Fresh probe separate from dismissed court case
The development came shortly after the Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed a separate suit seeking to compel the police to reopen investigations into Mohbad’s death.
Justice James Omotosho dismissed the case, which was filed by the Registered Trustees of Break the Silence Foundation, after finding that the organisation had not established sufficient legal interest to pursue the action.
However, the Aloba family has stressed that the court case and its petition to the IGP are separate processes.
Ogungbe said the family did not want the public to interpret the dismissal of the suit as an end to its own request for a fresh police investigation.
“The re-investigation is ongoing. The Aloba Family remains fully engaged. The pursuit of justice for Mohbad continues,” the lawyer stated.
The lawyer further said the family remained prepared to provide investigators with relevant documents, information, witnesses and other materials that could assist the new investigation.
He said the family was seeking a process conducted with “diligence, independence and professionalism”, while stressing that it did not intend to prejudge the outcome of the investigation or conduct a trial through the media.
What happened to Mohbad?
Mohbad died on September 12, 2023, at the age of 27, triggering widespread public concern and multiple investigations into the circumstances surrounding his death.
His remains were later exhumed for an autopsy.
The Lagos State Coroner’s inquest subsequently examined evidence surrounding the singer’s final hours.
Reporting on the coroner’s findings indicates that the autopsy did not establish a definitive cause of death because of the condition of the remains, while the coroner made recommendations concerning the administration of an injection and earlier allegations of assault and intimidation.
The fresh police investigation now places the unresolved questions surrounding the case back under renewed scrutiny.
For the Aloba family, the latest development represents another step in its effort to establish the circumstances surrounding Mohbad’s death.
For the police, the task ahead will be to examine the issues raised in the petition and establish the facts through the new investigative process.
The family has urged the public to rely on verified information as the investigation proceeds.
