Global human rights organisation, Amnesty International Nigeria, has said the DNA confirmation identifying a previously unnamed body as that of journalist Pelumi Onifade underscores the scale of violence allegedly inflicted on protesters and members of the media during the October 2020 #EndSARS protests.
In a statement shared on its X account on Thursday, the organisation said the DNA result finally established the identity of Onifade, a 20-year-old student journalist who went missing while reporting on demonstrations against police brutality in Lagos.
According to Amnesty International, Onifade was allegedly shot dead by officers attached to the Lagos State Task Force on October 24, 2020.
The organisation further alleged that after he was killed, security personnel removed his body from the scene and later deposited it at the mortuary of the General Hospital in Ikorodu, Lagos.
“The revelation yesterday that a DNA test result confirmed that a previously unidentified body was that of journalist Pelumi Onifade further shows the horrifying level of violence unleashed on protesters and journalists during #EndSARS protests in October 2020,” the organisation said.
It added, “Nigerian police attached to the Lagos State Task Force deliberately killed the 20-year-old journalist, Pelumi Onifade, on Saturday, October 24, 2020. His body was later dumped at the mortuary of General Hospital Ikorodu, Lagos.”
Amnesty International noted that Onifade was a 200-level History student at Tai Solarin University of Education and was serving as an intern with Gboah TV, an online television platform, when he died.
The rights group said eyewitnesses reported that Onifade was covering protests in Ikeja alongside fellow journalists when he was struck by gunfire.
According to the organisation, witnesses maintained that he was clearly identifiable as a journalist because he was wearing a press jacket at the time of the incident.
“Eye witnesses said on that day, while covering one of the scenes of #EndSARS protest alongside other journalists in Ikeja, they saw Pelumi sustain gunshot wounds. While in a pool of his own blood and while clearly wearing a press jacket, police dragged his body into their van,” the organisation stated.
Amnesty International argued that Onifade’s case reflects a broader pattern of alleged abuses committed by security agencies during the nationwide #EndSARS demonstrations.
“The case of Pelumi Onifade is just one of many shocking atrocities committed by Nigeria’s security agencies during #EndSARS protests,” the organisation added.
The confirmation of Onifade’s identity through DNA testing is expected to intensify calls for justice and accountability over the deaths and alleged human rights violations recorded during the #EndSARS protests, which were driven by demands for an end to police brutality, extrajudicial killings and other abuses by security operatives.
