Our Reporter, Abuja
A Lagos State District Coroner, Mrs. Temitope Oladele, has ordered the Medical Director of Ikorodu General Hospital to provide Media Rights Agenda’s (MRA) lawyers with records on the late journalist, Pelumi Onifade, within seven days.
The order, issued on Friday, August 8, followed an application by MRA’s lawyer, Mr. Monday Arunsi, who appeared alongside Ms. Jennifer Wala of the law firm Charles Musa & Co. Mr. Arunsi told the Coroner that the hospital had earlier refused to release the records, citing medical confidentiality.
Mr. Onifade, a reporter with Gboah TV, was reportedly arrested by policemen attached to the Lagos State Taskforce while covering the #EndSARS protests in October 2020. His body was later discovered at the Ikorodu General Hospital mortuary.
The ongoing inquest was convened on the orders of the Federal High Court in Lagos following a wrongful death suit by MRA against the Nigeria Police Force and the Lagos State Government. In a July 19, 2024 judgment, Justice Ayokunle Olayinka Faji directed the Attorney-General to ensure a thorough investigation and conduct a coroner’s inquest to determine the cause of death and identify those responsible.
At Friday’s sitting, Mr. Arunsi explained that he and a colleague, Mr. Johnson Agbakaba, had visited the hospital on July 31 in compliance with an earlier court directive to obtain records showing when Mr. Onifade’s body was deposited, when it was released, or its current status. The Medical Director, however, declined, insisting the information could only be released on a court order.
The Coroner granted the oral application, directing the Medical Director or any relevant custodian of the records to disclose the requested information within a week of receiving the order.
The matter was adjourned to August 19 for mention.
