- By Halimah Olamide
Officials of the Nigeria Police Force at the Criminal Investigations Department have grilled Mr. Joseph Aloba, father of the late singer, Ilerioluwa Aloba, popularly called Mohbad.
The interrogation was at the instance of the Oba Saheed Elegushi, the Onikate of Ikate in Lagos. The monarch had accused Mr. Aloba of cyberbullying and criminal defamation. In a statement by the Head of the Legal Team of Mr. Aloba, Monisola Odumosu, the team said Elegushi had told the police that an interview Aloba granted a London-based blogger accused him of bullying his son until his death.
The statement read in part, “Mr Aloba was invited by the police and led to the police station by the representatives of his legal team, Teri Wellington and Monisola Odumosu. The petition was written by Oba Saheed Elegushi who alleged that during one of Mr. Aloba’s interviews with a London-based blogger, he was criminally defamed.
“During the interview Mr. Aloba granted the London-based blogger, it was alleged that he said, ‘… his son was bullied and killed on the instruction of Oba Elegushi and that it was one Sam Larry that was sent to do the job…’” It was leant that Elegushi was personally present at the meeting with the police where he reportedly demanded for a retraction of the allegations made in the interview with the blogger. The head of the legal team, Odumosu said ““In fairness to Oba Elegushi, he only demanded the retraction of the defaming statements made by Mr Aloba on social media.
“Mr. Aloba was never arrested or detained. He was granted bail without stress. It is important to note that Mr. Aloba is still grieving the death of his son. He just lost a single star in the family firmament.”
“Any grieving parent may on the spur of the moment make statements that may tend to be unreasonable. We only need to understand the geographical circumstances giving rise to his utterances.”