Falana

The Coroner investigating the deaths of 10 persons in the recent Afriland Tower fire has directed human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), to ask the Lagos State Government to exhume and conduct autopsies on the corpses of victims already buried.

Presiding Coroner, Senior Magistrate Atinuke Adetunji, gave the order during the ongoing inquest into the incident which occurred on September 16, 2025, at Afriland Tower on Broad Street, Lagos Island.

She issued the directive after a lawyer representing one of the deceased persons informed the court that some victims of the fire had already been buried, stressing that determining the cause of death was essential.

Magistrate Adetunji, however, said that “families of such persons cannot be compelled to participate in the process if they have already buried their dead.”

Although Falana was not in court, he was represented at the preliminary sitting by his counsel, Yahya Atata.

The Coroner also instructed the petitioner to meet with the families to identify those whose relatives had been buried, those yet to be buried, and those willing to have their deceased exhumed for autopsy.

She further summoned the United Bank for Africa (UBA), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), United Capital, the Federal and Lagos State Fire Services, the Lagos State Safety Commission, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, and the families of the deceased to appear before her.

Magistrate Adetunji also invited any other interested parties to file applications stating their interest in the inquest.

Falana had, by a letter dated September 29, 2025, written to the Lagos Chief Coroner, Justice Mojisola Dada, urging the state to conduct an inquest to determine the cause of the tragedy and make recommendations under Section 15 of the Lagos State Coroner’s Law, 2007.

The Coroner adjourned further proceedings in the matter to November 26.

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