The Committee to Protect Journalists, the International Press Institute, and the Media Foundation for West Africa have called on Nigerian authorities to ensure the body of slain journalist, Onifade Emmanuel Pelumi, is released to his family.
Pelumi, 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 reported to have been seen in the custody of the police; his body was found in a mortuary a week later.
The journalist rights organisations, in a joint statement on Tuesday, also urged the government to ensure that those responsible for his death are identified and held to account.
The statement said, “the continued refusal to release Pelumi’s body violates the family’s customary right” so they can provide a proper burial.
“Without accountability, Pelumi’s case will add to several other unresolved killings of journalists in Nigeria, perpetuating a culture of impunity and promoting self-censorship,” the statement said.
“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 to account.
“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. On October 24, 2020, Pelumi, was hit by a bullet while covering the #EndSARS protests for Gboah TV.
“The injured journalist was reported to have been seen in the custody of the police who were part of the Lagos State Task Force.
“The police later took him away in their vehicle, alongside several people arrested for allegedly infiltrating the protests to loot a COVID-19 relief facility.
“About a week later, on October 30, 2020, the body of Pelumi was found in a mortuary in Ikorodu, Lagos.
“Authorities have yet to provide an official account of what happened to Pelumi and the need for greater transparency was underscored by a recent Lagos court order in a case brought by Nigerian press freedom group Media Rights Agenda, which directed the government to ensure the journalist’s death was investigated,” the statement added.
