Lagos lawyer and rights activist, Funmi Falana, has filed a formal request for a coroner inquest into the killing of a salesgirl during Saturday’s mega rally of Yoruba Nation agitators at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, Ojota, Lagos.
The teenage girl, whose name, is given as Jumoke Oyeleke, was found drenched in her blood and cold dead, after police from Lagos State Command, launched attacks against the agitators and passers-by.
Funmi Falana, the wife of Mr Femi Falana, SAN, and leading rights lawyer, is the chairperson of Women Empowerment and Legal Aid (WELA).
In the request, addressed to the Chief Coroner, High Court of Lagos State, she said: “On the 3rd day of July, 2021, the agitators for Yoruba self-determination gathered at the Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota, for a rally amid heavy presence of security operatives. In the process of dispersing the protesters, the security operatives chased them and shot sporadically into the crowd. A young trader, Jumoke Oyeleke who was hit by stray bullet gave up the ghost.
“In the light of the foregoing, we request you to use your good offices to cause a coroner inquest to be conducted into the tragic death of Jumoke Oyeleke and make appropriate recommendations pursuant to Section 15 of the Lagos State Coroner’s Law 2007 which provides that “an inquest shall hold whenever a Coroner is informed that the death of a deceased person within his Coroner District was a result of death “in a violent, unnatural or suspicious situation”.
“It will be appreciated if the Inquest is conducted without delay and the report made public to forestall such ugly recurrence.”