THIS DAY
The Lagos State government while reacting to a leaked memo pointing to a planned mass burial for victims of 2020 EndSARS protest, defended its action on refusal of relatives to claim their corpses.
However, THISDAY investi-gations prior and after the reaction by Lagos, through its Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye, proved otherwise.
A leaked memo from Lagos State Public Procurement Agency, dated July 19, 2023, addressed to the Ministry of Health and signed by the Director-General of the agency, Mr. Onafowote Idowu showed the approval of the sum of N61,285,000 for the mass burial.
Earlier in March, THISDAY had reported how Lagos State government deceived victims’ relatives and collected their samples in LASUTH for a DNA test, further raising the hopes of the bereaved.see link (https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2023/03/27/endsars-how-lagos-government-gambles-with-corpses-of-victims-denies-them-peaceful-rest).
It was reported that about 30 relatives, including Mrs Bose Onifade, mother of Pelumi, a young journalist killed by police in the line of duty, were asked to keep checking back for the result of a test that never ran in the first place. Close sources in the Ministry of Health told THISDAY that government failed to mobilise funds for the test which was supposed to be done abroad.
The investigation further traced the DNA samples to Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre, LSD&FC, where they were dumped for years, without any laboratory actions.
Then, THISDAY reporter reached out to the Managing Director of LSD&FC, Dr Richard Somiari and the state’s Ministry of Justice, both who were privy to the matter and at the centre who rather tossed reporter around when approached for reaction.
Following Ogboye’s declaration on Sunday, THISDAY reporter still reached out to Bose who equally disclaimed government’s defence, pleading that government should release his son, Pelumi’s corpse.
In an exclusive chat with our reporter, she expressed disappointment on how government could afford N61 million for a mass burial, yet could not release money to carry out DNA test for relatives to claim their corpses .
Bose also recounted the efforts she and her husband had taken in the past three years to secure their son’s corpse, including visiting the LSD&FC in March 2023 to no avail.
She said: “That government is claiming that no one came out for DNA test was a blatant lie from the pit of hell. The evidences are glaring, we were about 30 that came to submit our samples in LASUTH in 2020 not knowing that government was actually deceiving us. We ran from pillar to post to get our corpse to no avail, still we were denied compensation when others got.
“Coincidentally, Pelumi would have been 23 years today if he was alive. I beg Nigerians to come to my aid and beg governor Sanwo-Olu to release my son’s corpse so I can give him a befitting burial to enable the dead rest in peace.”
Meanwhile, in a new development, THISDAY gathered that the state government, obviously pressured by the backlash from the leaked memo, has started reaching out to relatives of victims to visit LSD&FC for samples recollection, a clear indication that the samples collected earlier in 2021 cannot be accounted for as THISDAY had earlier reported…
