LASUTH Says DNA Loss Hindered Identification in Pelumi Onifade's Inquest

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Late Pelumi Onifade 

The Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) has told a coroner’s court that it could not identify a body believed to be that of late journalist Pelumi Onifade due to the loss of DNA samples during the 2020 unrest.

The hospital, in a report submitted to the court, said all DNA samples at the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre were destroyed when the facility was burnt during the EndSARS protests.

The disclosure was made at the resumed hearing of the coroner’s inquest into Onifade’s death on April 7, 2026.

However, counsel to Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Mr. Alimi Adamu, challenged the hospital’s claim, describing it as inconsistent with established timelines.

Adamu told the court that official records show the DNA centre was burnt on October 23, 2020—one day before Onifade’s death on October 24—arguing that DNA samples later collected from the journalist’s family could not have been among those destroyed.

He added that the samples were taken days after the incident and that the family was never informed of any compromise or need for re-sampling.

The inquest, presided over by Magistrate Temitope Oladele, has experienced delays following LASUTH’s failure to earlier comply with court orders to submit a detailed report on the unidentified body, tagged 1385.

The coroner’s court had initially ordered the report in November 2025 as part of efforts to determine the identity of the body and circumstances surrounding the journalist’s death.

Onifade, a reporter with Gboah TV, was reportedly shot while covering protests in Lagos in October 2020.

The inquest was instituted following a directive by Justice Ayokunle Olayinka Faji of the Federal High Court, who in July 2024 ordered the Lagos State Government to investigate the circumstances of the journalist’s death and conduct a coroner’s inquiry.

At Tuesday’s proceedings, the coroner said the immediate priority was to determine the whereabouts of the body, which she noted had been transferred from LASUTH to another facility in Yaba.

She subsequently ordered the Chief Medical Director of the facility to produce a comprehensive report on the status and location of the body within 14 days.

The matter was adjourned to April 28, 2026, for further hearing.

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