The organizations are also demanding a thorough investigation to identify and hold accountable those responsible for his death.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the International Press Institute (IPI), and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) have jointly called on Nigerian authorities to release the body of slain journalist Onifade Emmanuel Pelumi to his grieving family.
The organizations are also demanding a thorough investigation to identify and hold accountable those responsible for his death.
The CPJ and its partners have emphasized the importance of justice in this case, warning that without accountability, Pelumi’s death will join the growing list of unresolved journalist killings in the country.
Pelumi Onifade, an intern at Gboah TV, was shot on October 24, 2020, while covering the #EndSARS protests in Ikeja, the capital of Nigeria’s southwestern Lagos State.
The injured journalist was reportedly seen in police custody, but his body was found in a mortuary a week later.
In a joint statement released on Tuesday and obtained by SaharaReporters, the organisations said the “continued refusal to release Pelumi’s body violates the family’s customary rights,” so they can provide a proper burial.
The statement reads, “Without accountability, Pelumi’s case will add to the several other unresolved killings of journalists in Nigeria, perpetuating a culture of impunity and promoting self-censorship.
“Nearly four years after the killing of journalist Onifade Emmanuel Pelumi, we, the undersigned organizations committed to promoting and defending press freedom, call on Nigerian authorities to ensure Pelumi’s body is released to his family and that those responsible for his death are identified and held accountable.”
Pelumi was a student of the Department of History at Tai Solarin University of Education, Ogun State, and an intern at Gboah TV, an online television channel based in Lagos.
The injured journalist was reportedly seen in police custody, with officers from the Lagos State Task Force. The police later took him away in their vehicle, along with several people arrested for allegedly infiltrating the protests to loot a COVID-19 relief facility.
The statement reads, “About a week later, on October 30, 2020, Pelumi’s body was found in a mortuary in Ikorodu, Lagos. Authorities have yet to provide an official account of what happened to Pelumi.
“The need for greater transparency was underscored by a recent Lagos court order in a case brought by the Nigerian press freedom group, Media Rights Agenda, which directed the government to ensure the journalist’s death was investigated.”
In February 2024, the undersigned organizations sent letters by email and post requesting action on Pelumi’s case.
The letters were sent to the offices of Fayoade Adegoke, Lagos State Commissioner of Police; Lawal Pedro, Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice; Gbenga Omotoso, Lagos State Commissioner of Information and Strategy; and Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State Governor.
The only response the committee received came on March 20, 2024, from the Lagos State government, indicating that an “internal investigation” was underway and that the findings would be communicated in “due course.”
The organisations said the “response, after nearly four years of waiting for investigations into Pelumi’s death to conclude, is insufficient and only extends his family’s trauma”.
The statement reads, “After years of waiting, it echoes a statement from November 11, 2020, by the spokesperson for the Lagos State police command, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, who said that Pelumi’s death had been reported to a new judicial panel of inquiry investigating allegations of police brutality but declined to comment further.”
Meanwhile, Pelumi’s family has not received any direct update on these investigations, nor have they been given any indication of when Pelumi’s body will be returned to them for burial.
The organisations explained that the continued refusal to release Pelumi’s body violates the family’s customary right to custody of the remains of their deceased kin so they can provide a proper burial.
The statement reads, “The lack of disclosure on the exact circumstances of the journalist’s death also contravenes the UN Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary, and Summary Executions, which state, ‘There shall be thorough, prompt, and impartial investigation of all suspected cases of extra-legal, arbitrary, and summary executions...’”
“Without accountability, Pelumi’s case will add to the several other unresolved killings of journalists in Nigeria, perpetuating a culture of impunity and encouraging self-censorship.
“In this context, we request that your office take action to ensure: Onifade Emmanuel Pelumi’s remains are released to his family, an effective and impartial investigation into the killing of the journalist is conducted, and those responsible are held accountable, and that rights-respecting policing is upheld in Lagos,” they added.
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