Pelumi Onifade: Coroner Orders Contempt Proceedings Against Ikorodu Hospital Director Over Failure to Produce Records of Late #EndSARS Journalist

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A Lagos State Coroner’s Court has ordered contempt proceedings against the Medical Director of Ikorodu General Hospital for failing to comply with a court order to produce records related to the remains of the late journalist, Mr. Pelumi Onifade, who reportedly died in police custody during the #EndSARS protests in October 2020.

The District Coroner, Mrs. Temitope Oladele, issued the directive on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, during the resumed hearing of the inquest into Onifade’s death. The Coroner ordered that Form 48 — the “Notice of Consequences of Disobedience of Court Order” — be issued and served on the Medical Director or any authorized representative of the hospital, along with a Certified True Copy of the court’s earlier order.

The contempt proceedings stem from the hospital’s refusal to provide records showing details of the deposit, release, or current status of Onifade’s body, despite a clear court directive. The order was originally made on August 8, 2025, following an application by Mr. Monday Arunsi, counsel to Media Rights Agenda (MRA), who reported that the hospital had refused to release the records on the grounds of medical confidentiality.

The inquest, which seeks to unravel the circumstances surrounding Onifade’s death, was convened on the orders of a Federal High Court in Lagos after MRA filed a wrongful death suit against the Police and the Lagos State Government. The suit demanded accountability and a thorough investigation into how the young journalist, arrested while covering the #EndSARS protests, ended up dead in the Ikorodu General Hospital mortuary.

During Tuesday’s proceedings, Mr. Samuel Adebola, of the law firm of Charles Musa & Co., who appeared alongside Mr. Arunsi for MRA and Onifade’s family, informed the court that they had visited the hospital on October 2, 2025, to meet with the Medical Director but were made to wait for over five hours without being attended to.

Adebola told the Coroner that the hospital and its Director had been served the order since August 26, 2025, but had failed to comply within the stipulated seven days or indicate any intention to do so. He therefore applied that the Medical Director be cited for contempt of court.

Granting the application, Coroner Oladele directed that Form 48 be issued and served immediately, warning that continued disobedience of the court’s order would attract severe legal consequences.

The inquest was subsequently adjourned to October 22, 2025, for further hearing.

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