Media Rights Agenda (MRA) on Friday called on the Federal Government to launch a “transparent and independent investigation” into the death of Pelumi Onifade a reporter with Gboah TV, an online television channel.
Mr Onifade was reportedly arrested by officers attached to the Lagos State Task Force while covering COVID-19 palliatives’ storage, and later found dead at a mortuary in Ikorodu, Lagos where his body was deposited.
The 20-year old was covering the scene of a mob raid on a government facility in Oko Oba area of Agege Local Government Area when operatives of the task force reportedly arrived the scene and engaged hoodlums who attempted to loot palliatives at the Ministry of Agriculture’s store in the Abattoir area of Agege.
MRA’s Programme Director Ayode Longe said in a statement that “Mr. Onifade’s death is one too many and is particularly ironic as he was arrested while covering protests that had engulfed the country as a result of police brutality and extra-judicial killings. This latest incident must not go uninvestigated. The Federal Government must make every effort to establish the circumstances of his death, identify his killers and make them to face the wrath of the law.”
Reminding the Federal Government that earlier in the week, on the occasion of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists on November 2, MRA had called for the establishment of mechanisms to combat impunity for attacks and violence against media workers in order to ensure accountability for such acts and discourage future attacks.
The MRA also called for substantial compensation to the Onifade family for the incident and a public apology to the family by both the Lagos State Government and Lagos State Police Command.
Onifade was a second-year student of the department of history at the Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Ogun State and was an intern with Gboah TV.
