Wale Igbintade
A Coroner’s Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre to produce critical reports that could help determine the identity and cause of death of a body believed to be that of journalist Pelumi Onifade, who disappeared while covering the #EndSARS protests in October 2020.
The investigating magistrate, Mrs. Temitope Oladele, issued the orders during the resumed hearing of the inquest into the death of Onifade, a reporter with Gboah TV, who was reportedly arrested by policemen attached to a Lagos State task force while covering the protests and whose body was later found at the Ikorodu General Hospital mortuary.
Details of the proceedings were contained in a statement issued on Friday by Mr. Idowu Adewale, Communications Officer of Media Rights Agenda (MRA), which instituted the legal action that culminated in the ongoing inquest.
Mrs. Oladele directed the Chief Medical Examiner of LASUTH to forward to the court within 21 days the autopsy report of an unidentified body tagged No. 1385, which is believed to be that of the late journalist.
The Coroner also ordered the Director of the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre to submit within the same period the DNA test result relating to the body after samples collected from the corpse and reference samples obtained from Onifade’s parents were forwarded to the centre for analysis.
The inquest was convened following the orders of the Federal High Court in Lagos after MRA filed a wrongful death suit against the Nigeria Police Force and the Lagos State Government, seeking, among other reliefs, an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Onifade’s death and the prosecution of those responsible.
In a judgment delivered on July 19, 2024, Justice Ayokunle Olayinka Faji directed the Attorney-General to ensure an investigation into the journalist’s death and to conduct a coroner’s inquest to ascertain the cause of death and identify and prosecute those responsible.
At the resumed hearing, counsel to Onifade’s family and MRA, Mr. Alimi Adamu, urged the Coroner to compel LASUTH to produce the autopsy report on the body and direct the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre to submit the DNA analysis conducted on samples collected from the body.
Adamu recalled that at a previous sitting, the court had ordered the Chief Medical Director of Yaba General Hospital to provide a detailed report on the whereabouts and status of the body within 14 days.
According to him, a review of the court’s order and the report subsequently submitted by LASUTH revealed that the body was not being held at Yaba General Hospital as earlier believed. Rather, the report stated that the body bearing Tag No. 1385 had been transferred to the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) mortuary in Yaba for storage.
The lawyer argued that LASUTH’s report confirmed that an autopsy had already been conducted on the body and that DNA samples collected during the process were forwarded to the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre for identification and analysis.
He added that the report further indicated that LASUTH authorities were awaiting the outcome of the DNA examination, making it necessary for the court to obtain both the autopsy report and DNA results to assist the inquest.
The Coroner initially expressed concerns about the operational status of the DNA and Forensic Centre in light of reports that the facility had been burnt during the #EndSARS protests.
However, Adamu informed the court that the centre remained operational and was currently functioning from its office located at 48 Broad Street, Lagos.
In her ruling, Mrs. Oladele referred to a report issued by the Department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine of LASUTH on March 24, 2026, which stated that autopsies were conducted on six bodies brought to the hospital on November 3, 2020, including the body tagged No. 1385.
Based on the report, she ordered the Chief Medical Examiner of the department to forward the autopsy report relating to the body to the court within 21 days.
The Coroner further noted that LASUTH’s report confirmed that DNA samples were collected from the bodies and that both the samples and reference samples obtained from families who lost loved ones during the #EndSARS protests were forwarded to the DNA and Forensic Centre for identification.
Consequently, she directed the Director of the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre to submit the DNA test result relating to body Tag No. 1385 within 21 days.
The matter was adjourned to June 23, 2026, for continuation of proceedings.
The outcome of the autopsy and DNA reports is expected to play a significant role in determining whether the unidentified body is that of Onifade and in shedding further light on the circumstances surrounding the death of the young journalist during the #EndSARS protests.
