Police officers and in-house security personnel at the Radisson Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday prevented Mrs Abosede Aloba, mother of the late singer Ilerioluwa Promise, popularly known as Mohbad, from physically confronting Nigerian filmmaker Yomi Fabiyi following fresh developments surrounding her son’s death.

Fabiyi, also the Convener of the Break the Silence Foundation, held a press conference yesterday to provide updates on the organisation’s efforts regarding the case. The event, which Fabiyi claimed the family became aware of and decided to attend, was marked by tension.

During his briefing, Fabiyi mentioned being contacted through the TikTok account of Adura Aloba, allegedly to pay N3 million for a video revealing details of the events leading to Mohbad’s death. However, Mrs Aloba interrupted, asserting that Adura could not have made such a demand.

Visibly upset, she stood, pointed at Fabiyi, and shouted, “They killed Mohbad, and you want me to lose his brother too. He knows nothing about his brother’s death; do not implicate my son.”

Mohbad died on September 12, 2023, at the age of 27, reportedly after being treated for an infection by an unlicensed nurse, who was later arrested.

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) announced an investigation into the circumstances of his death after exhuming his body on September 21, 2023. However, the case remains unresolved.

The Break the Silence Foundation called on the NPF to urgently invite and interrogate Adura Aloba and Cynthia Wunmi Aloba, urging their arrest and inclusion as suspects in the ongoing homicide investigation.

The foundation also demanded that Mrs Folashade (Mohbad’s aunt) be invited to corroborate her statement about seeing a blood-soaked blanket on the day of Mohbad’s death. It insisted there was no way Mohbad could have bled from any injury between September 10 and 12, when he died.

The foundation further appealed to the President, the Lagos State Governor, and the Inspector General of Police to restore public trust by transferring the case from the Lagos State Police Command if the suspects are not brought in for questioning within seven days.

It also called for retrieving a complete video beyond the three-second clip sent to Fabiyi and demanded that the new suspects be charged in court before the end of the first quarter of 2025.

Fabiyi stressed that the case must not be swept under the carpet and called for disciplinary action against any police officer found guilty of aiding or obstructing justice. He urged that such officers be paraded, disgraced, dismissed from the force, and punished.

He added that Mohbad’s death has highlighted serious concerns about the safety and well-being of artistes in Nigeria’s entertainment industry and citizens in general. According to him, the public outcry for justice underscores the need for a more transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the singer’s death.