The legal team representing the family of the late singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, popularly known as Mohbad, has expressed concerns about the capabilities of certain laboratories chosen for the ongoing paternity test involving his son, Liam.

According to Punch Metro, this was gathered on Tuesday from a statement signed by the family’s counsel, Oladayo Ogungbe, on behalf of the applicant, Joseph Aloba.

Ogungbe disclosed that a court, on February 24, 2026, directed that the Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) test be conducted in three laboratories jointly agreed upon by the parties and the court to ensure transparency and credibility.

The laboratories listed include DNA Diagnostics Centre, Fairfield, Ohio, United States, nominated by the applicant; Alpha Biolabs, Warrington, United Kingdom, nominated by the respondent; and Advanced Histopathology Laboratory Limited, London, United Kingdom, selected by the court through the Social Welfare Officer.

According to the lawyer, preliminary inquiries were made by the applicant’s representatives to verify the technical competence of the laboratories before sample collection commenced.

He, however, said responses from two of the laboratories raised concerns about their ability to conduct the required analysis.

“Prior to the commencement of sample collection, representatives of the applicant made inquiries to ascertain whether the listed laboratories possessed the technical capacity to conduct post-mortem DNA analysis involving tissue extraction from embalmed remains,” the statement read.

“The responses received from Alpha Biolabs and Advanced Histopathology Laboratory Limited indicated that they do not conduct post-mortem DNA testing involving embalmed bodies,” it added.

Ogungbe said the development had been formally brought to the attention of the court through an affidavit. 

“In light of these responses, the applicant deemed it necessary to notify the Honourable Court by filing an affidavit of facts,” he stated.

The counsel also dismissed claims that his client deliberately selected unqualified laboratories, noting that only one of the facilities was nominated by the applicant.

“It is incorrect and misleading to suggest that Mr Joseph Aloba deliberately selected laboratories lacking the competence to conduct tissue-based DNA testing.

“He remains committed to due process and to a DNA testing procedure that is transparent, scientifically credible, and in strict compliance with the court’s directive,” the statement added.

A Lagos State Magistrate Court sitting in Ikorodu had earlier ordered DNA tests to determine the paternity of Liam Aloba, the only child of the late singer.

Magistrate Adefisoye Sonuga gave the order while ruling on an application filed by Joseph Aloba, who is seeking to establish whether the child is his late son’s biological offspring.

Mohbad, a fast-rising Afrobeats artiste, died in September 2023 under controversial circumstances, triggering nationwide outrage and multiple legal disputes over his estate, royalties, and paternity.

His son, Liam, was born in April 2023, months before his death. The paternity dispute has since attracted widespread public attention.

A Nigerian man, along with another individual, was arrested during an anti-narcotics operation in Kenya.

Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, March 17, 2026.

According to the statement, detectives from the Anti-Narcotics Unit (ANU), in collaboration with officers from the Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU), conducted an intelligence-led operation targeting a suspected narcotics trafficking network.

Acting on credible intelligence that suspects were planning a narcotics exchange in Stock inauguration, Machakos County, the team responded swiftly. 

However, upon arrival, it was established that the planned meeting had been aborted. 

Based on real-time information from covert sources, the operation was redirected to Ruaka, Kiambu County.

A search at a house within Mbuti Apartment, Ruaka, led to the recovery of several exhibits including pellets and packages of substances suspected to be narcotic drugs, digital weighing scales, mobile phones, foreign passports, and cash in both Kenyan and Nigerian currencies.

Two suspects were arrested during the operation: Okeke Ikechukwu, a Nigerian national and Alex Opondo, a Kenyan national. 

The suspects were escorted to Ruaraka and Pangani Police Stations for processing. All recovered exhibits have been secured for forensic analysis.

The suspects are expected to be arraigned in court today as investigations continue to trace additional suspects and dismantle the wider trafficking network. 

On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump criticized NATO allies for their refusal to back efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, insisting that the United States can confront Iran without their support.

Speaking at the White House while hosting Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, Trump said the military alliance had failed a key test of loyalty.

“I think NATO is making a very foolish mistake,” Trump said. “I’ve long said that I wonder whether or not NATO would ever be there for us. So this was a great test.”

His remarks came after several U.S. allies declined to join a proposed mission to escort ships through the strategic waterway. French President Emmanuel Macron said France would “never” participate under current conditions, insisting the situation must first stabilize.

Despite the pushback, Trump maintained that Washington is fully capable of acting alone.

“We don’t need too much help. We don’t need any help,” he said, adding in a separate social media post that the U.S. had achieved enough military success to no longer require NATO’s involvement.

Trump also widened his criticism, describing the alliance as a “one-way street” and claiming that countries including Japan, Australia and South Korea were unwilling to get involved. He suggested the U.S. relationship with NATO could be reconsidered, though he noted no immediate plans for change.

The president took aim at individual leaders, saying British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had not been supportive and calling it a “big mistake.” He also dismissed Macron’s stance, saying the French leader would soon leave office.

Tensions around the Strait of Hormuz remain high after Iran targeted regional energy infrastructure and threatened oil tankers, disrupting one of the world’s most critical shipping routes, which handles a significant share of global crude supply.

Trump offered mixed signals about the broader conflict, describing the situation in Iran as “just a military operation” and suggesting U.S. involvement could end soon, while remaining vague about long-term plans for the country’s leadership.

The conflict has intensified across the Middle East, contributing to rising global oil prices and increasing pressure on U.S. allies to clarify their positions.

An association of clergymen has criticized President Bola Tinubu’s trip to the United Kingdom, where he is on a state visit following an invitation from King Charles III.

Tinubu departed Nigeria for the UK on Tuesday alongside his wife, First Lady Oluremi, aides and several top government officials. The trip is the first state visit to the UK by a Nigerian leader in 37 years.

However, the President’s trip came hours after a bomb blasts in Maiduguri, Borno State, which left about 23 persons dead and hundreds injured. The Maiduguri bombings is the latest in a series of high profile terror attacks in different parts of the country in recent days, prompting some Nigerians, including opposition politicians, to fault the President’s UK visit.

Reacting to the development in a statement signed by Rev Tony Uzo Anthony, released late on Tuesday night, the Concerned Igbo Ministers, an association of Igbo Christian clergymen, described Tinubu’s UK trip as a “callous abandonment of a nation bleeding to death”.

The clergymen accused Tinubu of choosing red carpets and photo-ops over the blood of Nigerian citizens.

“We, the Concerned Igbo Ministers, view with utter disgust and righteous anger the spectacle of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu parading in London while Nigeria burns.

“At the very moment a suicide bomber unleashes carnage in Borno, while mass slaughter continues unabated across the North and even in the President’s own backyard in Osun State and the entire Western region, the so-called leader chooses red carpets, handshakes with King Charles III and photo-ops with Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the blood of his citizens,” the clergymen said.

According to the clerics, Tinubu should have called off the UK trip and instead head to Maiduguri to assess the carnage from the bomb blasts and empathize with the people.

“This is not leadership. This is criminal negligence. Any patriotic world leader confronted with such heightened insecurity would have immediately cancelled the trip, flown to the scenes of slaughter, comforted the victims and taken personal command of the crisis. Instead, President Tinubu has chosen foreign diplomacy over the lives of Nigerians.

“The Chatham House analysis was brutally clear: diplomacy alone will not fix Nigeria’s problems. Yet Tinubu’s government, through its Information Minister, dismisses all criticism as “ignorance and mischief.” We reject that arrogant nonsense. The blood flowing in Borno, the corpses in the North, and the fear gripping Osun State are not figments of anyone’s imagination – they are the direct consequence of a government that has lost both the will and the capacity to protect its people,” the statement added.

The pan-Igbo association stressed that the facts on the ground expose the lie that Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is Nigeria’s problem.

Rather, according to them, Kanu’s decision to set up the Eastern Security Network, ESN, has proved to be inspired as it has helped to ensure insecurity in the South-East. Instead of condemning Kanu, the clerics said he should be commended, and his action emulated by other geopolitical zones

“On the contrary, he remains the only leader with a workable vision for security. His timely establishment of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) has transformed the South-East into the safest region in the country today – a reality no amount of propaganda can erase. While the rest of Nigeria drowns in blood, the East stands as a shining exception because of IPOB’s proactive defence of its people,” they added.

The clerics in the same vein urged Tinubu to use the UK trip to facilitate Nnamdi Kanu’s release from detention. They noted that the real reason Kanu is in detention is Britain’s fear of a sovereign Biafra nation.

The statement added, “Therefore, there is only one worthwhile mission President Tinubu can accomplish during this ill-timed UK visit: he must use the occasion to formally and urgently request His Majesty King Charles III and Prime Minister Keir Starmer to facilitate the immediate, unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from his unjust and prolonged detention.

“It is an open secret that British institutional fear of a sovereign Biafra is the real chain holding Mazi Nnamdi Kanu captive. The British Government remains one of the critical parties that must be assuaged for justice to be done. President Tinubu now has the perfect platform – face-to-face with the very authorities whose influence matters – to end this national shame.

“We urge the President to reach the British leadership without further delay and secure Nnamdi Kanu’s freedom. Anything less will confirm that this government cares more about foreign validation than the lives and aspirations of its people. The blood of slain Nigerians cries out from the ground. History and the Igbo nation will not forgive continued indifference.”

Nigerian woman Chioma Onwuesi shared a throwback photo recalling the day she accompanied her ex-boyfriend to a mall to buy drinks, unaware that he was set to marry another woman the following day.

Chioma, who shared her story in a Facebook post on Tuesday, March 17, said the incident happened a few years ago and she has since moved on.

According to her, her ex, who is from Anambra State, claimed that his mother told him not to marry a woman from Imo State.

“This was the day I escorted my ex to buy drinks at the mall, not knowing he was getting married the next day,” she wrote.

"I chose most of the drinks he bought. He broke the news to me the same day after taking me this picture. What is the reason? 

"He said his mum told him that he can't get married to a woman from Imo State (he is from Nnewi).

"I thought he was playing because I gave my all in that relationship. He called the girl in my presence and put the phone on speaker.

“It happened a few years ago shaa and I have moved on. Just scrolling through my phone and I saw this picture, I decided to share with you guys.”

Veteran Nigerian filmmaker and producer Wale Adenuga has weighed in on the ongoing controversy surrounding the iconic comedy Papa Ajasco and Company, responding to actor Abiodun Ayoyinka’s claims about difficulties associated with his role in the show.

A statement by the chairman of the Wale Adenuga Productions dismissed allegations of exploitation and financial neglect by the actor, describing such narratives as “entirely false and misleading.”

Recall that Ayoyinka, popularly known for his role as Papa Ajasco, had in a recent interview alleged that trademark of the character he played, limited his opportunities outside the long-running comedy series.

But in a rebuttal, Adenuga said his initial reaction to the trending video of Ayoyinka was one of surprise, stating “My first impression when I watched the Papa Ajasco video now trending on the internet and local TV channels was ‘Okay, so this guy has taken Papa Ajasco comedy into the public space?

“It is all well and good. I am happy for him, as his money-making strategy using social media has apparently worked for him.”

While acknowledging Ayoyinka’s talent and contribution, Adenuga stressed that the “Papa Ajasco” brand remains legally protected.

“He cannot use the copyrighted brand name Papa Ajasco for personal ventures because it is our duty to protect the brand from inappropriate usage that could damage its reputation,” he said.

He further clarified that the actor is not restricted from taking up other jobs: “He has not been barred from accepting advert jobs… all that is required is to seek official approval from WAP. This is part of brand protection.”

Adenuga went on to highlight Ayoyinka’s background as a retired civil servant, noting that he served over three decades with the Lagos State Government.

He also disclosed that the actor had benefited from several incentives over the years.

“On the car issue, we once gave him a car and Pa James as well. He has also used not less than five cars, including a Mercedes-Benz, at different times,” Adenuga stated.

Questioning claims of financial hardship, he asked: “Why is Abiodun Ayoyinka claiming to be broke? Where are the investments from his over 30 years of meritorious service… What happened to his gratuities?”

Adenuga also noted that other cast members of the series, including Pa James and other popular characters, continue to take on independent roles outside the show.

He explained the production structure, saying: “Abiodun Ayoyinka and other artistes in the TV show are on our set for six weeks in a whole year, thereby availing them enough time to pursue other endeavours.”

He added that within that period, “we record enough episodes to last for a year.”

Reaffirming the company’s reputation, Adenuga stated: “Wale Adenuga Productions has remained reputable over the years.The organisation pays according to industry standards and ensures all financial obligations are fulfilled as and when due.”

He concluded by reiterating that “any narrative suggesting financial abandonment or exploitation by our organization is entirely false and misleading.”

Operatives from the Maiduguri Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested three individuals suspected of engaging in illegal gold mining activities in Borno State.

They were arrested in Mallam Jakwa Town, Hawul Local Government Area of Borno State, following actionable intelligence on their illegal activities.

The suspects are: Umar Muhammad, Modu Bamai Umar and Sani Samaila.

Their suspected illegal mining  activities are worsening  insecurity and environmental degradation in the state.

Items found in their possession upon their arrest include a small gold measuring machine and mined gold.