Court Orders Lagos Government Investigate Journalist’s Death

A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the Lagos State Government to investigate the death of Pelumi Onifade, a 20-year-old reporter who died during the 2020 #EndSARS protests.

The court also directed the government to conduct a coroner’s inquest to determine the cause of death and identify and prosecute those responsible.

Justice Ayokunle Faji delivered the judgment in a suit filed by Media Rights Agenda (MRA) against the Police and Lagos State Government.

Onifade was arrested by Lagos State task force officers while covering the protests and later found dead at a mortuary in Ikorodu.

Delivering his ruling, Justice Faji agreed that the government’s chief law officer “cannot just conduct an inquest without a duplicate of the case-file,” noting that Section 74 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law, ACJL, of Lagos State gives the Attorney-General the power to request for a case-file from the Commissioner of Police.

Though the court dismissed five of the claims made by MRA against the Police on the ground that there was no evidence before the court to support them, Justice Faji noted that none of the facts in MRA’s affidavit was denied by the Attorney-General, who only raised an issue of law, adding that in the course of oral arguments, the Attorney-General’s counsel also undertook to conduct an inquest.

MRA had also asked the court to issue three orders, directing the respondents to launch a transparent, impartial and independent investigation into the circumstances of the death of Mr. Onifade, whose body was found in a morgue in Lagos; directing them to conduct a coroner’s inquest to ascertain the cause of his death; and directing them to identify and prosecute those responsible for his death.

In his judgment, Justice Faji pointed out that although the COP and the IGP were served with the originating summons and other processes in the suit, they did not file any response.

He noted that Mr. John Gbadamosi, MRA’s Programme Officer, who deposed to the affidavit in support of suit, did not witness any of the facts relevant to the matter, adding that there was also no documentation in support of the claim that Mr Onifade’s corpse was deposited in a mortuary.

Justice Faji also observed that although there was a constant reference in the affidavit to the family of the deceased who, he said, would have the necessary information regarding their various interactions with the Police, none of them filed any evidence in support of the incident.

The court, therefore, dismissed the claims against the Police for lack of evidence.

Though the judge commended the office of the Attorney-General of Lagos State for upholding the duties of the office by attending court and assisting the court in the matter, he added that the explanation by the Attorney-General’s lawyer that the reason a coroner’s inquest was not conducted was because the duplicate of the case file was not forwarded to his office.

According to him, in response to the court’s question on what the Attorney-General did about the matter since being served with the court processes, the lawyer submitted that the Attorney-General was ready to conduct an inquest.

Justice Faji stressed that the Attorney-General was not alleged to have known about the alleged unlawful killing of Mr. Onifade and was also not accused of being involved in the killing but that as stated by MRA, he has a duty to conduct an inquest into the circumstances of the death.

The court said: “Indeed, in paragraph 15 of the counter­ affidavit, the 3rd respondent (the Attorney-General) has stated that he would prosecute anyone found to have a prima facie case established against him.”

Justice Faji, therefore, directed the Attorney-General to take all necessary steps to see to the investigation of the circumstances of the death of Mr. Onifade and to conduct a coroner’s inquest to ascertain the cause of the death as well as identify and prosecute those responsible for his death.