US laboratory denies conducting toxicology test on late rapper, Mohbad

The National Medical Services Laboratories in Pennsylvania, United States of America, has refuted the claim by the Lagos State Government that it conducted a toxicology test to ascertain the cause of the death of singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, aka Mohbad.

Recall that counsel for Lagos government, O. Akinde, told the Coroner’s Court sitting in the Ikorodu area last November that a toxicology test, which is an aspect of an autopsy, was conducted in the United States.

Also the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, corroborated the claim and further revealed that the test was being conducted at the NMS Labs in Pennsylvania, USA.

“The matter is being handled by the state DNA and Forensic Centre, but they are doing skeletal services, and they have affiliate centres which are three.

“So, if there is an emergency like this one that we have, they will not say they cannot handle it. So, there are three of them in the US and the one handling this particular one is the NMS in Pennsylvania, USA,” Omotoso had said.

It wa further disclosed that the test result arrived in Nigeria in April 2024 and was handed over to a pathologist for interpretation. But the pathologist said they could not ascertain the cause of Mohbad’s death because the corpse had decomposed.

However, responding to an inquiry by the Punch via email, NMS labs the Client Services Associate, Forensics Division, Esther Dede, refuted the claim by the state government that Mohbad’s toxicology test was conducted at any of their laboratories.

“Unfortunately, we do not have a case for that patient. To maintain our compliance with HIPAA privacy regulations, we would need authorisation from the submitting agency,” Dede said.

When contacted on Wednesday, the Commissioner for Information, Omotoso told The Punch that it was the information given to him by the state DNA and Forensic Centre.

He said; “This was what I was told by the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre officials who took the sample there. We are dealing with the officials of the centre, they have three other labs that they have affiliations with.

If they have an emergency, they can go to any of the three labs. I asked which particular one did they go to and they answered it was that one. That means I will have to go and check again because that was what I was told.”