Yoruba Nation Rally: Coroner to visit murder scene

The coroner presiding over the inquest into the death of Jumoke Oyeleke on Monday fixed April 25 to visit the scene where the police allegedly murdered her.

Mukaila Fadeyi, the coroner, said at the Magistrate Court in Ogba, Lagos, that they would visit the location and return to court for the hearing.

A bullet hit Ms Oyeleke, 25, after police fired shots to disperse the Yoruba nation protesters during the July 3, 2021, rally.

But the police denied responsibility for her death, saying its officers never fired a “single live bullet.”

However, the post-mortem report of the deceased revealed that she died of “hemopericardium, disruption to the heart and lungs and missile injury to the chest.”

Hearing

Sunday Soyemi, a pathologist with the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), was absent for cross-examination on Monday.

The deceased’s family lawyer, Taiwo Olawanle, said there may not be a need to cross-examine Mr Soyemi because he had in his testimony indicated the police.

Mr Olawanle also suggested that the pathologist accompany the court on the visit.

The lawyer told the court that a police officer, Onyeisi Nwaolai, attached to the State Criminal Investigative Department (SCID) in Yaba refused to appear in court for cross-examination despite “five adjournments.”

The police officer, in his testimony deposed to the court on September 20, 2021, said a yet-to-be-identified person fired the bullet that hit Ms Oyeleke.

“Some of the protesters were later arrested with arms and charged to court,” he said.

“That arms recovered from the protesters have also been sent to the ballistic department for a thorough examination.”