A LAGOS State District Coroner, Temitope Oladele, has ordered contempt proceedings against the Medical Director of Ikorodu General Hospital for disobeying a court order to produce records relating to the late journalist, Pelumi Onifade, who died in police custody during the #EndSARS protests in October 2020.
According to a statement released on Wednesday, October 8, by the Communications Officer of the Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Idowu Adewale, the directive was issued on Tuesday, October 7, during resumed proceedings of the coroner’s inquest into Onifade’s death.
The coroner ordered that Form 48, a notice of the consequences of disobeying a court order, be issued and served on the Medical Director or an authorised representative of the hospital, alongside a certified true copy of the court’s order.
According to court procedure, Form 48 is a preliminary step toward initiating contempt or committal proceedings against any person who fails to comply with a lawful court order.
The coroner’s latest order follows the hospital’s failure to comply with an earlier directive issued on August 8, 2025, instructing the Medical Director to release hospital records showing when Onifade’s remains were deposited, released, or their current status.
That earlier order was granted after lawyers representing MRA, Monday Arunsi and Jennifer Wala, reported that the hospital had refused to release the records because medical information was confidential.
At Tuesday’s proceedings, MRA’s counsel, Samuel Adebola of Charles Musa & Co., who led Arunsi, informed the coroner that despite being served with the court order on August 26, the hospital had failed to comply.
Adebola told the court that he and his colleagues visited the hospital on October 2 to meet with the Medical Director, but were kept waiting for over five hours and were not attended to. He urged the court to cite the Medical Director for contempt.
The judge, Oladele, granted the application, ordering that Form 48 be issued and served immediately, and adjourned further hearing to October 22, 2025.
The coroner’s inquest was convened on the orders of the Federal High Court in Lagos, following a wrongful death suit filed by MRA against the Nigeria Police Force and the Lagos State Government, demanding an independent investigation into Onifade’s death.
The ICIR had earlier reported in August 2025 that the coroner ordered the Ikorodu General Hospital to release documents concerning the deposit and release of Onifade’s remains after the MRA complained of persistent refusal by the hospital to comply.
Onifade, a reporter with Gboah TV, was reportedly arrested by policemen attached to a Lagos State task force while covering the #EndSARS protests in 2020. His body was later found at the Ikorodu General Hospital mortuary.
In July 2024, Federal High Court Judge Ayokunle Faji directed the Lagos State Attorney-General to initiate a coroner’s inquest to ascertain the cause of death and ensure that those responsible are prosecuted.
Five years after his death, Onifade’s family and civil society organisations continue to demand transparency and accountability over the circumstances surrounding his death in police custody.
A reporter with the ICIR
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