- The NMS Labs made the disclosure while responding to inquiries made by Punch newspaper to ascertain the true cause of the musician’s death and and verify the Lagos State government assertion on the matter.
The management of the National Medical Services Laboratories in Pennsylvania, United States of America, says claim by the Lagos State government that it conducted a toxicology test on singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, aka Mohbad, is false.
The NMS Labs made the disclosure while responding to inquiries made by Punch newspaper to ascertain the true cause of the musician’s death and and verify the Lagos State government assertion on the matter.
Recall that the claim made by a pathologist, who appeared before the Coroner’s Court on Wednesday, May 15, that an autopsy could not ascertain cause of Mohbad’s death because his corpse had decomposed did not go down well with many members of the public who have shown keen interest in the case
The counsel for the state government, O. Akinde, told the Coroner’s Court sitting in the Ikorodu area of the state sometime in November 2023 that a toxicology test, which is an aspect of an autopsy seeking to determine the cause of Mohbad’s death, was conducted in the United States.
The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, also confirmed that the toxicology test was being conducted at the NMS Labs in Pennsylvania, USA.
But when the result of the test purportedly arrived in Nigeria sometime in April 2024 and was sent to the pathologist for interpretation, he, while appearing before the coroner’s court, said the autopsy could not establish the cause of Mohbad’s death because his remains had decomposed.
Members of the public were taken aback by his revelation seeing that Mohbad died less than a year ago and persons who have died way longer than that could have the cause of their death ascertained if autopsy were to be conducted on their corpses.
However, when Punch reached out to NMS Labs located at 3701 Welsh Road Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, and that of two NMS crime labs on Stratford Avenue, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, and another at Grand Prairie in Texas to make inquiries about the matter and to authentic the veracity of the pathologist interpretation, the lab said it did not conduct any toxicology test to ascertain Mohbad’s death was conducted at their facility.
The inquiry read in part: “Conflicting reports have emerged, casting doubt on whether or not the toxicology test indeed took place at your facility. As a journalist committed to factual reporting, I am independently reaching out to your facility to verify the authenticity of this claim. Clarification on this matter will contribute significantly to resolving the discrepancies surrounding the artist’s demise.”
Responding the inquiries on May 17, the Client Services Associate, Forensics Division, NMS Labs, 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,” Dede said.
Dede, however, noted, “To maintain our compliance with HIPAA privacy regulations, we would need authorisation from the submitting agency.”
When confronted with the response of NMS lab, the Commissioner for Information, Omotoso, said that was the name of the lab given to him by the state DNA and Forensic Centre.
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