MohBad’s widow, Wunmi, speaks on DNA, says she’s waiting for her father-in-law’s approval

 

Wunmi, the widow of late Nigerian singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, aka Mohbad, has shared further details about her relationship with the late artist’s family; the quest for a paternity test on her son, Liam; and the pursuit of justice for her late husband.

In an interview on TVC’s Your View program on Friday, Wunmi recalled meeting Mohbad on the popular 2go app when she was 13 years old and how their friendship began.

“I met him when I was 13, about 12 years ago. It was a 2go app stuff. I used to be a rapper and he sings. We started as friends, he was 15 when I was 13. He told me he liked me, we continued our relationship till we became married. We had a traditional marriage and God blessed us with a baby boy,” she said.

“We officially started the relationship when I was 17. I was in the university. He was in Osun while I was in Ijebu-Ode, so our relationship was not stable. We got serious in 2018, and from then till 2023, I did not step out of the relationship,” she added.

 

The widow also discussed the DNA controversy, saying, “The DNA issue is one thing that brings me so much pain. It sounds funny. How did we get here from #justiceformohbad? Somebody somewhere on social media who thinks he has right to interfere into family issues started the DNA narrative and a lot of people got along with it.”

She expressed her dissatisfaction with the approach her father-in-law handled the DNA issue, stating that he seemed more interested in Mohbad’s property than the DNA.

Wunmi said, “My father-in-law, even though he wanted DNA, I actually believed that he should find a way to address it, but instead he was just going online talking about DNA. I had to ask him ‘How did we get here, and what exactly do you want from me?’ Even when I called he didn’t talk about the DNA, he kept talking about the property, and the landed property my husband got for me. I was expecting him to talk to me like father-in-law to daughter-in-law. Talk to me and stop going out to talk about it but he never did; he never said anything regarding the DNA. I called him severally, he just kept talking about my husband’s property and if I feel like I have anything with me, I should hand it over to him or else he would go out to destroy me.”

She continued, “I have nothing to hide, asking for DNA is not an issue, but it is just the way he is asking me. He knows so well that presently, let me say that I’m the most bullied widow in Nigeria right now, I feel like as a father-in-law… at first, he said it was because Nigerians wanted it, later he said my husband’s friends told him that he (Mohbad) had sex with me only once so one sex can never lead to pregnancy. He has found a way of convincing people that this DNA issue in one way or the other led to my husband’s demise. And Nigerians tend to work with their emotions, only a few people think outside the box. He has been trying to convince people that I’m promiscuous.”

Wunmi, however, noted that she had agreed to do the DNA in 2024 and is waiting for his permission to go ahead.

She said, “I granted my father-in-law’s request for DNA since last year but he doesn’t want again. He has stopped. He’s not interested in it anymore. I haven’t done it but of course I will. It’s a must, because of my child too. I don’t blame people who have been trying to defame my baby because they are acting on what they’ve heard.

“He is not ready for the DNA now, he seems uninterested. He’s free to do it whenever he wants, he wants his own personal DNA to be the last. He should give me permission to do my own personal DNA. I don’t have anything to hide. He knows Liam is his grandson. They even look alike”

Wunmi went on to narrate how Mohbad’s father pressured them as a young couple into having a baby, and how her current focus is to ensure that her son, Liam, is not negatively impacted by the ongoing public drama.

“Most people do not even know that it was my father-in-law who wanted this baby,” she said. “Left to me and my husband, we were still young, I got pregnant at 23. This man fasted with me and my husband for seven days. We went to different places, mountains, churches. He gave me so many things to eat and drink, he was just insisting that the Holy Spirit told him that I should get pregnant and there’s a reason for it.

“The only thing I can do, to make my husband be at peace with me too is to clear the innocent baby out of this mess. My father-in-law seems uninterested now. People are entitled to their opinions, it doesn’t change who I am but that innocent baby doesn’t deserve all of this that is going on. That stigma needs to be cleared off.”

She added that aside from the money contributed for Liam after MohBad’s demise, “I have not gotten anything so far.

“I feel like everything he had had been on hold the moment he died and the problem here is that my father-in-law wants to be in charge. He has spoken with a lot of people and people are telling him to hold on. ‘This guy has a child, can we allow it to be done legally?’ That is the problem. Mohbad did not write a will.”

Reflecting on the state of the investigation into Mohbad’s death, Wunmi said, “My husband has been at the morgue for 17 months now because the coroner’s inquest is on hold. It was one of my father-in-law’s supporters who made it to be on hold. She realised that my father-in-law had not been telling the truth and she wanted her lawyer to join the inquest, and the lawyer told the court that he wanted the inquest to start all over again.

“He (Mohbad) needs justice, the people who bullied my husband, the nurse that injected my husband, the person he fought with at the show, they should pay for it legally.”

During the interview, Wunmi stated that she has a good relationship with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law but described growing tension with her father-in-law.

She said, “Before the demise of my husband, the family was not in love, and my husband had a way of settling the whole thing amicably, so after his demise, it was from one family dispute to another.

“I’ve been good with other members of my family aside from my father-in-law who wants to turn his back on me and Liam. I’m good with my mother-in-law, she’s not problematic, my sister-in-law is also good but she doesn’t want to get involved in this case because she’s not happy with the way things are going.”

Wunmi further narrated how her previously cordial relationship with her father-in-law turned sour before the singer’s death, especially when MohBad’s mum came into the picture saying, “My father-in-law is actually my friend, like a father figure to me. I was his right hand, but before my husband’s demise we had some issues but I feel like he’s been trying to convince people with the family issue.

“A lot of people based on their emotions think everything they say is centred on #justiceforMohBabd but the few ones and family know that everything that has been happening after my husband’s demise is about the family dispute.”

She continued, “He was my friend. When I got pregnant, it was about two weeks after the fasting they came from Ikorodu, he made stew for me. I feel like the reason for our issue is that he feels that I betrayed him by being on good terms with my mother-in-law. Even if he wanted to discipline me, he shouldn’t go to his grandchild, he didn’t even spare that little baby.

“You know it was just me and him, and when my mother-in-law came into the picture, it was not me. It was his child that willingly forgave her. So he feels like we sidelined him. I called him, he was like why do I have to take Liam to my mother-in-law’s place, what right does she have to ask me to bring Liam to her place on the island and I took him there? Why didn’t I bring Liam to Ikorodu? He said if I was ready to agree to what he said he would stop. He wants to be in charge of the property.”

Refuting rumours that she and Mohbad didn’t have a peaceful relationship during his lifetime, Wunmi said, “It was a loving relationship. myself and my husband had never had a physical fight. We were a young couple and no marriage or relationship is perfect and you know I was dating an artist so it was a lot. We used to disagree to agree, and most times whenever he did something to me, I’d call my father-in-law. My father-in-law would come all the way from Ikorodu to beg me, and those are the things he is using against me now.”