The Lagos Judicial Panel of Inquiry for Restitution for Victims of SARS related abuses and the Lekki Tollgate Incident, has urged victims of the Oct. 20 shooting of #EndSARS protesters by members of the Nigerian Army to come forward with their petitions.
The Chief pathologist of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), John Obafunwa has informed the Lagos State Judicial Panel on Restitution for victims of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad and other Related matters that only three of the bodies deposited at the morgue were linked to the Lekki tollgate #EndSARS protest.
Obafunwa, who was summoned as a witness by the panel presided over by retired Justice Doris Okuwobi, testified that an autopsy was done on 99 dead bodies recovered from different parts of the state between October 19 and 24, 2020 during the #EndSARS protest.
The Pathologist further told the judicial panel that the Identities of the three dead bodies, which were labeled as #EndSARS still unknown but that their DNA samples have been collected to help unmask their Identities.
Obafunwa presented the autopsy reports and pictures of three bodies from Lekki to the panel, showing different degrees of injuries.
According to him, the first body was brought in from Lekki bridge, was brought in on October 24, 2020 and that a post mortem was conducted on October 29, 2020.
He said, “the entire body was x-rayed and it showed a fracture of the left seven ribs, was decomposing, skin peeling off, greenish decomposition, laceration on the left side of the skull measuring 8 by 2 centimeters, no fracture of the underlying bone, hemorrhaging or bloody fray on the left side, decomposition, nothing remarkable.
“As at the stage the body was found, it was decomposing. Bleeding from the chest cavity was identified as the cause of death.
“Second case 041 unknown identity, place of death was said to be Lekki, Died at about 1.45am on the 21st October 2021, he was taken to Reddington Hospital Lekki in an unconscious state as a result of open skull fracture on the October 21, 2020, attempt to revive him failed and he was pronounced dead.’’
The panel has, however, adjourned the matter till June 19 to enable Professor Obafunwa produce a record showing the 99 deaths.