Lagos State Coroner has called for the identification of missing persons between October 19 and 27 – days before and after the shooting of #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki toll plaza in the state.
In an advertorial on Thursday, Chief Coroner of Lagos State, Mojisola Dada said the action is in line with section 15 of the Coroner’s System Law of Lagos, 2015.
The announcement was titled, ‘Coroner’s call for the identification of missing persons’, and signed by Office of the Chief Coroner, Lagos State.
In the announcement, people were asked to proceed to the Department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital for the identification exercise of “the deceased”.
It said after a scientific identification, the remains of “the deceased shall be released to the next-of-kin for burial”.
The announcement comes on the heels of Lekki shooting incident, where some peaceful protesters were killed, several injured and others missing.
There have been accounts of missing persons since the incident on October 20 and an investigation by CNN published on Wednesday confirmed that there were deaths from Lekki shooting, despite denial by government officials.
The announcement reads;
This is to notify the General Public that the Chief Coroner of Lagos State, Hon Justice M. A. Dada (Mrs.) pursuant to Section 15, Coroner’s System Law of Lagos State, 2015 the Pathology Team would want all those who have lost loved ones between 19th – 27th October 2020 (that is, next-of-kin of the victims) to provide relevant information that would assist the identification exercise.
The next-of-kin should kindly contact the Department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Oba Akinjobi Way, Ikeja for the identification exercise of the Deceased.
It stressed;
The next-of-kin will be required to provide means of identification of themselves and their loved ones. Nationally recognized means of identification such as passport, Driver’s license, National ID card or LASSRA ID Card shall be accepted.
Only the parents, siblings or children, in that decreasing order of preference are expected to come to LASUTH. The hours of visit shall be from 10:00am to 2:00pm for the next two (2) weeks starting from the date of this Announcement.
Please note that these next-of-kin shall be required to come with the following: clear photographs of the missing person; their own upper body photographs; and also provide samples for Reference DNA Profile, where necessary.
This profile will be compared with those already collected at autopsy from the deceased. It is only after a definitive scientific identification that the Bodies of the deceased shall be released by the Office of the Chief Coroner to the next-of-kin for burial.
