The Lagos High Court in Ikeja has dismissed the application filed by late Mohbad’s father, Mr. Joseph Aloba, seeking to overturn the Director of Public Prosecution’s (DPP) decision to release Naira Marley, Sam Larry, and others from suspicion of being involved in Mohbad’s death.
Justice Taiwo Olatokun ruled that the Attorney General’s authority to decide whether to prosecute was legitimately used and that the reliefs requested by Mohbad’s father could not be granted.
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The application was filed by Mr. Joseph Aloba on behalf of the Aloba family, with the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) and the Attorney General of Lagos State as respondents. The applicant’s lawyer, Wahab Shittu, SAN, argued that the DPP’s legal advice freeing Naira Marley and Sam Larry forestalled the proceedings of the Coroner’s inquest, which had yet to conclude its enquiry into the cause of Mohbad’s death.
Justice Olatokun held that the Attorney General’s authority to decide whether to prosecute could not be questioned. The court dismissed the application, holding that the suspects who were released by the legal advice were not acquitted but were only discharged. The respondents argued that there was no fact disclosed that linked Naira Marley, Sam Larry, Prime Boy, and Opere Babatunde directly or remotely to the death of Mohbad, which formed the basis of the DPP’s advice freeing them.
The ruling did not satisfy Mr. Joseph Aloba, who was in court with a few other supporters of the late Mohbad. The DPP’s attorney chose not to comment on the ruling, while the applicant’s lawyer, Wahab Shittu, stated that his client was prepared to challenge the ruling in an appeal.
