- Court Orders Exhumation, Autopsy of Afriland Towers Fire Victims
- The magistrate instructed all parties to file the necessary applications before the next sitting
- Counsel to one of the deceased, A.O. Mema, informed the court that his client, Peter Ifaranmaye, a manager at FIRS, had already been buried
A Yaba Chief Magistrate Court has ordered Femi Falana Chambers to commence the process for the exhumation and autopsy of ten victims who died in the Afriland Towers fire incident that occurred on September 16, 2025, in Lagos.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the Presiding Magistrate Atinuke Adetunji issued the directive on Tuesday after the court was informed that some of the deceased had already been buried.
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“The petitioner should write to the Lagos State Government for the exhumation of the dead victims and carry out an autopsy,” Magistrate Adetunji ruled.
The order followed a petition dated September 29, 2025, filed by Femi Falana Chambers to the Chief Coroner of Lagos State, Justice Mojisola Dada, seeking a coroner’s inquest to determine the cause of death and ensure accountability for the incident.
During the preliminary hearing, the magistrate instructed all parties to file the necessary applications before the next sitting and summoned several institutions connected to the case, including the United Bank for Africa (UBA), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Lagos State Fire Service, Afriland Towers, United Capital, and the Lagos State Safety Commission.
Magistrate Adetunji further directed the petitioners to engage with the victims’ families to obtain consent for exhumation and urged eyewitnesses to come forward with testimonies.
A representative of Falana Chambers, Yahaya Atata, told the court that the day’s proceedings were meant to bring stakeholders together and set the framework for the inquest.
Counsel to one of the deceased, A.O. Mema, informed the court that his client, Peter Ifaranmaye, a manager at FIRS, had already been buried.
In response, Magistrate Adetunji maintained that an autopsy was a critical requirement for the inquest to proceed.
“Autopsy is fundamental. We cannot just hold an inquest; there must be an autopsy to know exactly what happened,” she said.
The matter was adjourned to November 26, 2025, for further proceedings.
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