Pathologist confirms 3 out of 99 bodies examined after #EndSARS protests were from Lekki

By our reporter| A consultant pathologist to the Lagos state government, John Obafunwa has said that three of 99 bodies examined for autopsy after the #EndSARS protests, were from Lekki axis.

It will be recalled that soldiers on October 2020 invade the Lekki tollgate to disperse #EndSars demonstrators protesting against police brutality.

The number of casualties following the invasion has not been ascertained as controversy has trailed the number of casualties recorded during the invasion.

But at the hearing of the Lagos judicial panel established to investigate the invasion by soldiers against protesters, Obafunwa said 99 bodies were received for autopsy between October 20 and 24.

According to Obafunwa, out of the 99 bodies received, three were brought in from Lekki while others were received from other parts of the state including Surulere, Ikorodu, Ajah, Fagba, among others.

He said, “They instructed us to conduct autopsies on bodies that came in between the 20th to 21st and up to about the 24th and we did the autopsies on the bodies, not just Lekki but cases from Ajah, Surulere, Ikorodu, Fagba, Ikoyi prisons and all those things amounting to a total of 99. But I am only here with the three for Lekki.”

“I wouldn’t know how many bodies came on the 21st. I would have to go and check them. But I can tell you that it was between the 20th and 24th that we had to do all the cases.”

Obafunwa who further explained the findings of the autopsy for each body, said the first person was brought in from Lekki bridge, and was discovered to have suffered laceration on a side of his skull, but died as a result of bleeding on his “chest cavity and “blunt force trauma to the chest”.

The second, a male, he said, was declared dead in the early hours of October 21, after suffering an open skull fracture, but the pathologist added that there was no sign of gunshot injury.

According to him, the body showed signs of having suffered hypertension, as well as rib fracture, but noted that the cause of death was “skull and brain injury which was due to blunt force trauma”.

For the third body, the pathologist said examination revealed that the person died of severe blood loss as a result of complications suffered, following a gunshot injury.

Obafunwa was after his testimony, was asked to appear before the panel with reports on the remaining 96 bodies on June 19.