12-Year-Old’s Death: Coroner Opens Inquest into Case of Missing Intestines

The 12-year-old boy with the missing intestine, Master Adebola Akin-Bright, passed away at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), and preliminary inquiries into his death began on Friday before the coroner, Magistrate Bola Folarin-Williams, who was presiding at Magistrate Court 4 in the Botanical Gardens in Ebute-Metta, Lagos.

Ola Akinde, the attorney for the Lagos State Government, told the court during the hearings that the corpse had undergone the requisite tests and examinations and had a post-mortem report.

He added that the State Attorney General’s office is aware of letters sent to the deceased’s father by solicitors requesting that the body be preserved while the mother requests that the body be released to her for burial. He said that while the state is not opposed to any of the demands, the court will decide what to do.

a coroner She said in her statement that she had heard that the autopsy report was finished and was on its way to the court.

She added that in order for the court to make a decision, it could be required for the deceased’s mother and father to submit their respective applications regarding what to do with the body.

Mr. Ebun Adegboruwa, SAN, the complainant’s attorney, then requested that the report be made available to all parties involved in the case.

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Adegboruwa added that because the deceased passed away at a LASUTH facility, it could be preferable to have an impartial assessment of the body by professionals like the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to reduce the possibility of bias and conflicts of interest.

The senior attorney also told the coroner that he learned on Friday morning that Femi Falana (SAN) is the principal attorney for the mother of the deceased and will be coordinating with them to balance the parent’s points of view.

He urged the court to preserve the body in the interim because the Coroner had already been given jurisdiction over the case.

The state is prepared to work with and support the parties, according to Akinde, who has informed the Coroner. The state will do this by making all witnesses and documentation, including all doctors and medical staff who treated the dead at LASUTH, available to the parties.

The Coroner asked parties to meet to discuss their disagreements and submit a list of the names of the witnesses who would be called before the next date after carefully considering each submission. She commanded that the parties’ solicitors be given access to the autopsy report and all related paperwork.

The case was postponed until November 24 so that more can be done.