Omowunmi, widow of Ilerioluwa Aloba, also known as Mohbad, has accused her late husband’s father, Joseph Aloba, of avoiding a Deoxyribonucleic Acid test to settle the paternity dispute over the boy she had with Mohbad.
The Magistrates Court, sitting on July 9 in the Ikorodu region of Lagos State, authorized both parties to pursue alternate dispute resolution, which resulted in closed-door negotiations that also failed to reach an accord.
Mohbad’s father filed the lawsuit to obtain a DNA test for his grandson. In an October 2024 statement, Monisola Odumosu, a member of the family’s legal team, announced that Wunmi had agreed to do the DNA test for his grandson.
In a statement in October 2024, a representative of the family’s legal team, Monisola Odumosu, stated that Wunmi had agreed to carry out the DNA.
Odumosu went on to say that the conditions of the settlement were drafted by both parties. The court then ordered that the DNA test be performed in a mutually agreed-upon laboratory or medical centre in Nigeria. To establish and verify the test’s credibility, the court designated several personnel to supervise the DNA testing process.
However, a statement from Salawu Akingbolu Chambers, Omowunmi’s legal representation, written by Kabir Akingbolu on January 9, 2025, said that Omowunmi admitted to rejecting Mohbad’s father’s option of UCH Ibadan, as well as her choice of Lagoon Hospitals.
Omowunmi noted that they had requested that the Eko Hospital and Reddington Hospitals be transparent, as mentioned in their letter of December 11, 2024. However, Mohbad’s father did not reply.
The letter stated, “We remain Solicitors to the Respondent in the aforementioned suit, and we have her express consent to write this letter to you.” It should be noted that we have exchanged several letters on the subject, but we appear to be making no progress, which is unfortunate.
Suffice it to say that after we duly responded to your letter dated December 5, 2024, which we received and acknowledged on December 9, 2024, we have anxiously waited for your response but have received nothing to date. “Although, we objected to your choice of UCH Ibadan since the court itself remarked for good reason that it is not appropriate after your client mentioned the same in open court. In the same vein, we have conceded all the same to your objection to us using Lagoon Hospitals even though no tenable reasons were given.
“Quite reasonably, in replacement, we chose two other hospitals which are: The Eko Hospital and Reddington Hospitals, just so for us to show that we absolutely have nothing to hide and this was contained in our letter of 11th of December 2024.”
Omowunmi added that, shockingly, Mohbad’s father’s lawyer took to social media and accused her of not being prepared for the DNA test.
“To our utter surprise, instead of you responding to our letter of the above-quoted date, we saw Mr Taiwo Odumosu of counsel, whom we have profound respect for and Counsel to the Applicant, saying on social media that we are the ones who are not ready for the DNA, which is not the case, and we are by this letter denouncing any such misrepresentation Mr. Taiwo Odumosu of counsel must have tainted us with on social media. In fact, we demand an apology for making such baseless accusations,” the letter continued.
“Your letter dated January 9, 2025, with the above caption has been shown to our Mr. Taiwo. Odumosu instructed us to answer as follows. “Mr Odumosu desires to notify you that no time throughout his media contact did he imply that your client ‘was not ready for the DNA’. What he was saying, which has been misconstrued, was that the hospitals have yet to respond to inquiries about their readiness to administer the test. We heard your client express sentiment in that respect following the media.
Interaction.
“Mr Odumosu has absolute respect for your office and your client. He would not in any way derogate the professionalism and maturity both law firms have exhibited so far while the case lasted.”Oroko, however, announced through the letter that their chambers would cease representing Mohbad’s father in the matter.
“This response is necessary as a courtesy to your good self and to set the record straight as our chambers no longer represent the Applicant, “the letter stated.