Coroner orders contempt proceedings against hospital director over Late Journalist medical records
By Faith AM
Lagos State District Coroner, Mrs. Temitope Oladele, investigating the death of Mr. Pelumi Onifade, a reporter with Gboah TV who reportedly died in Police custody during the #EndSARS protests in October 2020, has ordered that contempt proceedings be initiated against the Medical Director of Ikorodu General Hospital in Lagos for failing to comply with an order to produce hospital records relating to the deposit, release or current status of the remains of the late journalist.
The Coroner directed at the resumption of proceedings in the inquest on October 7, 2025, that “Form 48” be issued, together with a Certified True Copy of the court’s order, and served on the Medical Director or any other authorised representative of the hospital. Form 48, otherwise known as “Notice of Consequences of Disobedience of Court Order”, is used to initiate committal proceedings when a person or entity has failed to obey a valid court order.
The order directing the hospital to produce the records relating to the deposit, release or current status of the remains of the late Mr. Onifade was first made by the investigating magistrate on August 8, 2025, following an application made by Mr. Monday Arunsi, lawyer to Media Rights Agenda (MRA) after he reported that the Medical Director had refused to release the information on the ground that medical records are confidential.
The coroner’s inquest into the death of Mr. Onifade, who was reportedly arrested by policemen attached to a Lagos state taskforce while he was covering the #EndSARS protests in 2020, and later found dead at the Ikorodu General Hospital mortuary, was convened on the orders of a Federal High Court in Lagos following a wrongful death suit brought against the Police and the Lagos State Government by MRA demanding, among other things, an investigation into the late journalist’s death.
During Tuesday’s proceedings, Mr. Samuel Adebola of the law firm of Charles Musa & Co., leading Mr. Arunsi, on behalf of MRA and Mr. Onifade’s family, told the Coroner that in compliance with the directive issued during the last sitting, Mr. Arunsi and another lawyer from the law firm of Charles Musa & Co., Ms. Jennifer Wala, visited the Hospital on October 2, 2025 to meet with the Medical Director but were asked to wait as the Medical Director was said to be in a meeting.
He said that despite waiting for over five hours, the Medical Director failed to attend to them.
Mr. Adebola insisted that the Medical Director and the hospital had been duly served with the order on August 26, 2025 and that although more than a month had passed since then, they had not complied with the order or indicated any intention to comply despite the fact that the order required them to produce the records within seven days of receipt of the order.
He therefore applied that the Medical Director be cited for contempt of court.
The Coroner granted the application and directed that Form 48 be issued and served along with a Certified True Copy of the order on the Medical Director or any other authorised representative of the hospital.
She thereafter adjourned further hearing on the inquest to October 22, 2025.
