Coroner threatens to issue bench warrant against police officers, others

chika ebuzor

May 17, 2017 3:38 AM

The Coroner issued the threat following the absence of the Divisional Police Officer of Dugbe Police Station in Osogbo.

Isiaka Adeleke

The coroner panel set up by the government of the State of Osun on the death of Sen. Isiaka Adeleke on Tuesday threatened to issue a bench warrant against some police officers and other witnesses who fail to appear before it.

The Coroner, Olusegun Ayilara, issued the threat following the absence of the Divisional Police Officer of Dugbe Police Station, Osogbo, at the panel’s sitting.

Also absent at the panel’s sitting was the Officer in charge of Homicide.

Ayilara said: “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 involved in the autopsy exercise, most importantly the DPO of Dugbe police Station and OC Homicide.

“By the virtue of the coroner’s law, everyone involved 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.

” 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 a 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 48 hours 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."

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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that at Monday’s sitting, the CMD of LAUTECH Teaching Hospital where Adeleke’s corpse was taken to for autopsy, Prof. Akeem Lasisi, had said the late politician was given an overdose of banned injections.

This submission, he said, was proven by the empty ampoules of injections brought by a family member.

Lasisi said the DPO of Dugbe Police Station, OC Homicide and the pathologists had in their care the empty ampoules of injection administered on Adeleke, inaddition to the pictures which they took.

The coroner adjourned sitting till Wednesday when the summoned officers were expected to testify.

chika ebuzor