The Coroner Court investigating the death of Mr Pelumi Onifade, a young journalist with Gboah TV, who was reportedly shot and arrested while covering the #EndSARS protests on October 24, 2020, has ordered the Chief Medical Examiner of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, to forward to the court within 21 days the autopsy report for an unidentified body tagged 1385 which is believed to be that of the late journalist.
The investigating magistrate, Mrs Temitope Oladele, also issued a separate order to the Director of the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre to forward to the court within 21 days, the Deoxyribonucleic Acid, DNA, test result for the same body for which DNA samples collected by LASUTH from the body and Mr. Onifade’s parents were forwarded to it.
The Coroner issued the orders at the resumed hearing in the inquest into the death of Mr. Onifade, who was reportedly arrested by policemen attached to a Lagos State task force while he was covering the #EndSARS protests in 2020, and later found dead at the Ikorodu General Hospital mortuary, where his body was deposited.
The inquest was convened on the orders of a Federal High Court in Lagos following a wrongful death suit brought against the Police and the Lagos State Government by Media Rights Agenda, MRA, demanding, among other things, an investigation into the late journalist’s death and the prosecution of those responsible for his death.
In his judgment in the suit delivered on July 19, 2024, Justice Ayokunle Olayinka Faji directed the Attorney-General to ensure an investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Onifade’s death and to conduct a coroner’s inquest to ascertain the cause of death as well as identify and prosecute those responsible for his death.
At the resumed hearing in the inquest, Mr. Alimi Adamu, leading Mr. Monday Arunsi and Mr. Somto Afulukwe, on behalf of the family of the deceased journalist and MRA, urged the Coroner to direct LASUTH to produce the report of the autopsy, which the hospital said it conducted on the body.
The lawyer also asked the Coroner to order the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre to produce the DNA test result on the samples collected in 2020 from the body and sample reference collected from family members who lost their loved ones during the EndSARS protests.
Mr. Adamu recalled that during the previous sitting of the Court, it had ordered the Chief Medical Director of “Yaba General Hospital, Yaba, Lagos” to produce a detailed report on the whereabouts and status of the body within 14 days of service of the order.
He said upon reviewing the court’s order and comparing it with the contents of the report which LASUTH submitted to the Court, it became evident that the report did not reference Yaba General Hospital.
Rather, he said, the report stated that the body bearing Tag No. 1385 had been transferred to the Infectious Disease Hospital, IDH, Yaba Mortuary for storage purposes.
Mr. Adamu pointed out that from the LASUTH’s report, it was clear that it was the Infectious Disease Hospital, IDH, in Yaba, and not Yaba General Hospital, that was identified in the official records as currently having custody of the body in question.
But he argued that the LASUTH report confirmed that an autopsy had already been conducted on the body and that DNA samples collected during the process had been forwarded to the DNA and Forensic Centre for DNA identification and analysis, adding that the report further indicated that the authorities at LASUTH were awaiting the outcome of the DNA analysis.
Consequently, Mr. Adamu urged the court to order the Director of the DNA and Forensic Centre to produce the DNA analysis and report relating to the body; and also order the Chief Medical Director of LASUTH to produce the report of the autopsy conducted on the body.
The Coroner initially expressed concerns regarding the operational status of the DNA and Forensic Centre, given earlier reports that it was burnt down during the #EndSARS protests.
But Mr. Adamu insisted that the Centre was still functioning and was currently operating from its office located at 48 Broad Street, Lagos.
Ruling on Mr. Adamu’s applications, Mrs. Oladele said sequel to the report issued by the Department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine of LASUTH on March 24, 2026, autopsies were conducted on the six bodies which were brought to LASUTH on November 3, 2020, including a body with Tag. No. 1385, the Chief Medical Examiner of the department should, within 21 days, forward the autopsy report of the body with Tag No. 1385 to the court.
She also ruled that in the light of the LASUTH report of March 24, 2026 that DNA samples were collected from the bodies, including the one with Tag No. 1385, and that the samples and reference samples collected from families who lost their loved ones during the EndSARS event were sent to the DNA and Forensic Centre for identification, the Centre Director should forward to the court within 21 days the DNA test result of the body with Tag No. 1385 for which samples were forwarded to it by LASUTH.
The Coroner then adjourned the matter to June 23, 2026, for continuation of proceedings.
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