Death of Journalist: Coroner Adjourns Onifade Inquest Over LASUTH’s Failure to Produce Report

Our Reporter 

A Coroner Court sitting in Lagos has adjourned proceedings in the inquest into the death of journalist, Pelumi Onifade, to April 7, 2026, following the failure of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) to comply with a court order.

Onifade, a reporter with Gboah TV, was reportedly shot while covering the #EndSARS protests on October 24, 2020.

The adjournment was ordered by the investigating magistrate, Temitope Oladele, after the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of LASUTH failed to produce a report on the whereabouts of an unidentified body tagged 1385. The body was said to have been received from Ikorodu General Hospital on November 3, 2020, and later subjected to a post-mortem examination at LASUTH.

Counsel to the Media Rights Agenda (MRA) and the Onifade family, Alimi Adamu, had urged the court to issue a Form 48 — a notice to show cause why the CMD should not be committed for disobedience of a court order. The application followed repeated failures by the hospital to comply with earlier directives.

However, Magistrate Oladele declined the request, opting instead to grant the CMD a final opportunity to comply. She noted that in institutional settings, court processes may not always reach the appropriate authorities promptly.

The initial order, issued on November 18, 2025, directed LASUTH to provide a comprehensive report on the body. Following continued non-compliance, the court, on March 3, 2026, granted a fresh application by Adamu for the order to be specifically directed at the CMD, mandating submission of the report within 14 days.

Despite this, LASUTH neither produced the report nor had any representative present in court at the March 24 sitting. The court confirmed that the order had been duly served but remained unfulfilled.

The magistrate subsequently directed counsel to follow up with the hospital to determine the cause of the delay and facilitate compliance ahead of the next hearing date.

The inquest was instituted on the directive of the Federal High Court in Lagos after MRA filed a suit against the police and the Lagos State Government, seeking an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Onifade’s death.

In a judgment delivered on July 19, 2024, Ayokunle Olayinka Faji ordered the Lagos State Attorney-General to ensure a thorough investigation, including a coroner’s inquest, to determine the cause of death and bring those responsible to justice.