Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) has told a coroner that it could not identify the body of Pelumi Onifade because DNA samples kept at the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre were destroyed during the #EndSARS protests.
The coroner Temitope Oladele said on Tuesday that LASUTH had submitted a report on the whereabouts of the body in compliance with an earlier order.
Onifade, a reporter with Gboah TV, was taken away by police officers on October 24, 2020, while covering an incident in Agege, Lagos.
His body was later found in a mortuary in Ikorodu.
A coroner’s inquest into his death began in 2024 following a court order.
During the proceedings, LASUTH stated that DNA samples held at the forensic centre were destroyed when the facility was burnt during the protests in October 2020.
Counsel to Media Rights Agenda Alimi Adamu questioned the report, saying there were inconsistencies.
He told the court that records show the DNA centre was burnt on October 23, 2020, before Onifade’s death on October 24, 2020.
Adamu said DNA samples from Pelumi Onifade’s parents were collected after his death and could not have been among those destroyed.
He said attributing the loss of the samples to the October 23 incident does not align with the sequence of events.
Responding, the coroner said the immediate issue before the court is the identification and location of the body.
She said the body, tagged 1385, had been moved from LASUTH to another facility in the Yaba area of Lagos.
Oladele added that DNA analysis can be revisited after the body is located.
Adamu asked the court to direct the facility in Yaba to provide a report on the body.
The coroner granted the request and ordered the chief medical director of the facility to submit a report on the whereabouts and status of the body within 14 days.
The case was adjourned to April 28.
