Court Adjourns Mohbad’s Son’s DNA Case to 16 November: In Nigeria, the Only Thing That Gets Results Quickly Is the Adjournment

There are some stories where the humour is not about the people, because the people are grieving.

This is one of them. A young man died in September 2023. He left a father, a widow and a little boy. The only thing I will laugh at here is the process, because the process has earned it.

On this latest day in court, the case over the DNA test of Mohbad’s son was adjourned to 16 November 2026. Once again. According to the family’s lawyer, the court postponed it after the family raised concerns about how the testing is being arranged. And that is the thing about court dates in Nigeria. They are not appointments. They are weather forecasts. “Expect hearing, with a chance of adjournment later in the afternoon.”

Let me summarise how it has gone. The court ordered the test. Then overseas laboratories were approved, two in the UK and one in the US. Samples were collected with representatives of both sides present. And then everyone started asking questions: which centre, which lab, who carries the sample, who signs for it. The family’s lawyer says they want to know about the chain of custody, and the timeline for delivery. These are not silly questions. When you are asking a lab to settle something this serious, you want the sample to travel like a VIP, not like a parcel from a bus station.

Then there are the court welfare officers. First one officer, then another, who heard the family’s concerns and promised to look into them and report back. In Nigerian language, “I will look into it and report back” is the most powerful sentence ever composed. It can last years, my friend. It has a longer lifespan than most phones.

And meanwhile, what has happened to the real thing, the thing everyone claims to want? Almost three years later, the father, Mr Aloba, has said he will not carry out the final burial until the cause of death is determined. A father is waiting. A widow is waiting. A little boy is growing up while grown people argue about laboratories. If you ever want to see time move slowly, watch a Nigerian court file.

The newspapers are also telling us about disagreements over properties, over testing, over who is joined as an interested party. It is a lot of paper for one family. At some point somebody must ask the simple question: what is the shortest path to the truth, and who is blocking it? That question is not a joke. It is a request.

In the meantime, we will all wait for 16 November. We will wait, and we will see. Maybe it will be a hearing. Maybe a ruling. Maybe it will be “the learned magistrate is on leave.”

One thing is certain. Whatever the test says, the boy deserves peace, and the family deserves answers.