Pelumi Olajengbesi, a human rights attorney based in Abuja, has pleaded with police officials and the Lagos State Government not to sabotage the ongoing investigation into the death of Nigerian singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, also known as Mohbad.
Olajengbesi of the Abuja-based law firm Law Corridor said in a statement on Friday that the inquest into the talented musician’s death must not end up like earlier investigations into related incidents where justice wasn’t served.
The lawyer mentioned similar contentious incidents, like the death in 2021 of 12-year-old Precious Sylvester Oromoni Jnr., a boarder at Dowen College in Lekki, who died in questionable circumstances.
In the same year, Olajengbesi claimed that 14-year-old Karen-Happuch Akpagher, a student at Abuja’s Premiere Academy, passed away in a contentious manner after her mother Vihimga claimed that doctors found that she had been raped and a condom had been left in her private area.
Olajengbesi said, “Many other cases of similar unfortunate incidents abound all over Nigeria but justice cannot be said to have been dispensed in most cases, especially in the cases of Sylvester and Karen-Happuch.
“Let it not be said that after the autopsy conducted on Mohbad’s remains on Thursday, September 21, 2023, justice won’t eventually be served by the 13-man police investigation committee on the matter.
“Of note, the cases of Sylvester, Karen-Happuch and Mohbad bring to the fore, the dangers and failure of not addressing the anti-social behaviour of bullying and cultism in our society. Greater penalties should be imposed to deter any future repeat of these crude and unacceptable behaviours.
“In the case of Mohbad, fingers have been pointed in the direction of certain persons. The police authorities and the Lagos State Government should not spare these persons in their probe. The investigation must be thoroughly done. Culprits should be made to face the music no matter how highly placed or connected they are.
“There should be no scared cows. Beyond playing to the gallery because of public outcry, the police must deliver. Justice must be served. For social misbehaviour only abounds when justice is asleep. And this is dangerous for our nation.”
