A Lagos State District Coroner, Mrs. Temitope Oladele, has ordered contempt proceedings against the Medical Director of Ikorodu General Hospital for failing to comply with a court directive to produce records relating to the remains of Mr. Pelumi Onifade, a journalist with Gboah TV who reportedly died in police custody during the #EndSARS protests in October 2020.
At the resumed hearing of the inquest on October 7, 2025, the coroner directed that Form 48—a Notice of Consequences of Disobedience of Court Order—be issued and served alongside a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the order on the hospital’s medical director or an authorized representative.
The court had on August 8 ordered the hospital to produce documentation on the deposit, release, or current status of the late journalist’s remains. The directive followed an application by Mr. Monday Arunsi, counsel to the Media Rights Agenda (MRA), who had reported that the medical director refused to release the records, citing patient confidentiality.
Mr. Onifade 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.
The ongoing coroner’s inquest was convened on the orders of a Federal High Court in Lagos after MRA filed a wrongful death suit against the Nigeria Police and the Lagos State Government, demanding an independent investigation into the journalist’s death.
During Tuesday’s proceedings, Mr. Samuel Adebola of Charles Musa & Co., who led Mr. Arunsi in representing MRA and the Onifade family, told the coroner that the hospital had been duly served with the August 26 order but failed to comply within the stipulated seven days.
He narrated that on October 2, 2025, he and a colleague, Ms. Jennifer Wala, visited the hospital to meet with the medical director but were kept waiting for over five hours without being attended to.
Citing the hospital’s non-compliance, Mr. Adebola applied for the medical director to be cited for contempt.
Granting the application, the coroner ordered that Form 48 and the CTC of the order be served on the medical director, warning that failure to comply could attract further legal consequences.
The inquest was adjourned to October 22, 2025, for further hearing.