NIGERIAN JOURNALIST'S BODY IDENTIFIED SIX YEARS AFTER PROTEST DEATH

A coroner's inquest confirmed on 24 June 2026 that remains held in a Lagos mortuary belonged to Pelumi Onifade, a journalist killed during anti-police protests in Nigeria in 2020. The body, tagged 1385, was identified through DNA matching a sample provided by Onifade's mother, Bosede Onifade. The identification came nearly six years after Pelumi, then a 20-year-old intern at Gboah TV, was shot while covering the #EndSars demonstrations in Abule Egba, Lagos State, on 24 October 2020. According to witnesses, members of the Lagos police taskforce dragged him into a van after he was struck by a bullet.

Pelumi's family located his body in an Ikorodu mortuary on 30 October 2020, but found it had been removed by the time they arrived to collect it. The family pursued multiple avenues to retrieve his remains, including participation in judicial panels of inquiry established to examine deaths and injuries during the protests and submission of DNA evidence. In 2020, then federal police spokesperson Olumuyiwa Adejobi stated that Pelumi's death had been reported to a panel investigating police brutality allegations. The Lagos State government told the Committee to Protect Journalists in 2024 that an internal investigation into the circumstances remained under way.

No individual has been held responsible for Pelumi's death. His mother has stated that the family seeks the release of his body for burial. The identification through the coroner's inquest represents the first official confirmation of Pelumi's identity and fate following his disappearance during the 2020 protests.