Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has signed an executive order setting up a coroner’s inquest into the death of Senator Isiaka Adeleke.
The inquest was ordered under the Coroner Law, Cap. 32, Vol. I, Law of Osun, 2002.
The governor also appointed Mr Olusegun Ayodele, a Magistrate, as the head of the inquest.
He directed that the inquest be carried out in Osogbo, the state capital, within three weeks.
Aregbesola said the inquest became necessary because of the suddenness and the circumstances surrounding the death he governor said a coroner’s inquest was a long established procedure dating back to the eighth century and was applied in the interest of the community to investigate sudden, natural and unexplained deaths.
He said: “A sudden and an unexplained death of a person of high status must be investigated and documented.
“Therefore, the status of our brother, the late Senator Isiaka Adeleke, the suddenness and the circumstances of his death, would propel a responsible government to set up an inquest to unravel the circumstances of his death.
“History will not be kind to us as a government if we fail to do the inquest into the circumstances surrounding his death.
“We must do this for historical purposes because it is in the general interest of the community and state to investigate any sudden or unnatural death of this nature.”
The Solicitor General of Osun and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Mrs Abiola Adewemimo, said the circumstances and the suddenness of Adeleke’s death necessitated the coroner’s inquest.
She said the inquest would ascertain the cause of death of the former governor, adding that the governor, by virtue of the Coroner Law, was empowered to order such inquest in the circumstance.
Mrs Adewemimo said: “The state is still reeling in shock at the sudden demise of our dear Serubawon, the late Senator Isiaka Adeleke.
“The circumstance and the suddenness of Adeleke’s death call for the setting up of an inquest to ascertain the cause of his death in the interest of our state.”
Adeleke died on 23 April in Osogbo.
Reported by The Nation
