The Oyo State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Thursday ordered the State Hospitals Management Board to release the corpse of an Ibadan based trader, Kehinde Omotoso, who died in police custody, to the family for burial.

The deceased died last July in police detention after he was arrested by police from Iyaganku, Ibadan for an offence allegedly committed by his nephew.

The panel gave the order after the defense closed its case with the testimony of its last witness, Inspector Shuaib Ibrahim, who was one of the police officers that arrested Omotoso, as well as well as the testimony of a doctor with the State General Hospital, summoned by the panel to clarify issues such as the location of the corpse and condition of Omotoso when he was brought to the hospital.

The family of late Omotoso had lodged a complaint on the Flagit App of the Akin Fadeyi Foundation immediately after his death, and the foundation had contacted the Afe Babalola chambers to take over the matter.

In his testimony, Dr Olawale Oladimeji said Omotoso was brought in dead to the hospital on July 21, 2020, around 11.15 am by Sergeant Ibrahim Shuaibu of SCID, Iyaganku, adding that all they did was to confirm him dead as there was no sign of life in him before he was then moved to the morgue where he confirmed the corpse was still being kept.

Toyese Owoade from Afe Babalola Chambers who is the legal representative of the family had applied that the panel order a release of the corpse to the family so they can bury their dead almost a year after his demise while the panel granted the request and ordered that the Hospital Management Board release the corpse to the family.

Earlier, Inspector Shuaib Ibrahim had confirmed during cross-examination before the panel that they had not concluded investigations to determine whether Omotoso was guilty of allegations against him before his death, stressing that nothing incriminating was found in his house when it was searched.

Meanwhile, the case of Jimoh Isiaq, the young man allegedly killed in Ogbomoso by a police bullet during the EndSARs protest was also heard with the prosecution calling its sixth witness, who is the second to the last witness, Dr Olumuyiwa Ayodele Ogunlaja, the Director of Clinical Services at the Bowen University Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, submitted a medical report that was admitted and tagged Exhibit.

The panel granted the request and adjourned till June 10, for the prosecution to close its case and for the defense to open its own.