Bosede Onifade is tired of waiting.
Sitting in her family’s two-bedroom apartment on a sweltering Sunday afternoon, she longs for news about her son, Pelumi Onifade, who has been missing for six years.
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The last time she saw him was on the morning of 24 October 2020.
Pelumi, a 20-year-old intern with a Nigerian news channel, was excited to cover the #EndSars protests — an anti-police brutality movement that had shaken the country.
While filming a demonstration in Abule Egba, Lagos State, for Gboah TV, Pelumi was hit by a bullet, according to witnesses.
They said members of the Lagos police taskforce then dragged him into a van along with arrested protesters.
Bosede, family, and friends searched for Pelumi in vain.
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Then, on 30 October, a relative found his body in a morgue in Ikorodu, 23 miles north of Lagos.
But by the time the family arrived, the body was no longer there.
A Long Fight for Accountability
For six years, the Onifade family has fought to recover Pelumi’s body and demand justice.
The young journalist was one of many victims of state violence during the 2020 protests.
The family’s ordeal highlights the ongoing struggle for accountability in Nigeria. Despite widespread condemnation of the police brutality, no one has been held responsible for Pelumi’s death.
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Bosede continues to wait, hoping for answers that may never come. The case remains unresolved, a painful reminder of the cost of speaking truth to power.
