The Coroner Inquest set up by Osun’s Governor Rauf Aregbesola to uncover the circumstances surrounding the death of Senator Isiaka Adeleke has threatened to issue bench warrant against personalities who fail to appear before it just as it threatened to issue bench warrant against the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Dugbe Police station, Osogbo and the Officer in Charge (OC) Homicide if they shun the coroner on Wednesday.
Chief Magistrate Olusegun Ayilara led coroner had earlier ordered for the summon of the Commissioner of Police who sent a representative on 10th May, 2017 before the case was adjourned to 15th May, 2017.
But when the coroner sat on Monday, there was no representative of the Commissioner of Police during the proceeding where five witnesses testified.
It would be recalled that the Chief Medical Director (CMD), Biket Hospital, Dr. Adebisi Adenle, Chairman Osun West Senatorial District of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Amobi Akintola, Executive Secretary of Ede South, Hon. Johnson Ojo, Osun State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Titilaoye Tomori and the Chief Medical Director of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Prof. Akeem Lasisi had on Monday testified before the coroner panel and was adjourned to Tuesday.
During the testimony of the five witnesses several names were mentioned which include the Divisional Police Officer of Dugbe Police Station, Osogbo, OC Homicide, one Lasun Olaniyi from Iwo Community, one Lukman and one Engineer Oni Alfred Aderibigbe.
At the sitting on Monday, the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital CMD Prof. Akeem Lasisi testified that the empty ampoules of injections brought by the family member of the late senator based on his request to know the medical history of the deceased showed that he was given overdose of banned injections.
Lasisi further said that, “The DPO of Dugbe Police Station, OC Homicide and the pathologist have in their care the empty ampoules of injection administered to late Senator Isiaka Adeleke and they took pictures of them.”
The CMD, added that the DPO, OC Homicide were with the pathologists when autopsy exercise was being carried out on the deceased.
However, at the proceeding on Tuesday, the OC legal of Osogbo Police Command, Mr. Abass Aruna who represented the Commissioner of Police informed the court that the CP was unable to appear in person due to vital official assignment.
His words: “We are not aware that the coroner has been sitting because we were on official assignment to Abuja and we came on Sunday.
“Truly, we are not aware that the court had been sitting but now that we are aware, we assure the court that tomorrow the officer concerned will come to testify to what they know as regards the issue we are being called upon shed light on.”
Responding, Magistrate Ayilara frowned at what he described as insensitivity to court order.
“The OC homicide and DPO are expected tomorrow. They need to come and I want to say this that nobody is on trial here. This is not a criminal proceeding. I am not going to stop anybody from going back to his or her house and I won’t force anybody to say what he doesn’t want to say.
“We need facts from police officers, medical doctors and other relevant bodies that were involved at the autopsy exercise most importantly the DPO of Dugbe Police Station and OC Homicide.
“By the virtue of the coroner’s law, everyone involves in this exercise must appear to give testimony. And as such, I need the police officer and others to be able to explain to the court that they identified the corpse, that is what we need.
“We don’t need forensic man. We have a pathologist from LAUTECH and as such, that will be enough for us.
“So, for this reason, failure to appear before this coroner inquest panel would be interpreted otherwise because if they don’t come, I will assume that they are deliberately frustrating our efforts.
“We are constrained and we have limited time of three weeks and this is the second week, we want to take all evidence by the end of this week so that I can use the last week to put things together.
“We issued the summon yesterday and they have 48hours to answer, that is why I will fix tomorrow for them.
“As a matter of fact, if the necessary parties are not here tomorrow, we will issue bench warrant against them”, Magistrate Ayilara affirmed.
He therefore adjourned the case till Wednesday, 17th of May, 2017 for mention.
Packaged by Bunmi Oladejo
