Autopsy on the Body of Late Festus Iyayi: Process as important as Procedure

While discussions continue on a recent blog post about investigating the road traffic crash in which ex-ASUU leader and others lost their lives, it is gratifying to know there has been a recent call for autopsy on the body of the deceased as reported in the media: http://www.punchng.com/news/iyayi-asuu-suspects-foul-play-asks-for-autopsy/

However, it is equally important that the process of the autopsy be streamlined in accordance with existing mandate stipulated by law, so as to achieve the intended purpose.  In the media report referenced above, the following statement was credited to the spokesperson of Iyayi’s family: “Commenting on the development, Iyayi family spokesman, Prof. Robert Ebewele, said that the issue of autopsy was ASUU’s affair and that the family would go ahead with the burial already slated for the first week of December”. It is important, therefore, to observe that the issue of autopsy in this context is not only an “ASUU’s affair”, but also, more importantly, a public affair, a medico-legal affair, and a justice affair. The death of Prof Festus Iyayi and many other Nigerians, who lose their lives daily on our roads and in other circumstances, calls for death investigation under the Coroner’s Law.  The process of undertaking this procedure therefore needs to be followed in accordance with the law in the affected jurisdiction. The understanding and cooperation of the family in this situation will be important as any burial programme will have to align with the Coroner’s mandate for the autopsy and subsequent authorisation/permit for burial to avoid a potential Coroner’s Order for Exhumation in the event the body is buried without authorized autopsy.

Meanwhile, it is needless to state the autopsy procedure itself must meet prescribed standards. This is not only for the index case but should also apply to all forensic autopsies because of inherent greater impact on the justice system and on public health and interest. If there were more Coroner’s Inquests in response to so many Coroners’ cases we are confronted with daily, perhaps the public and concerned institutions would have been strengthened with evidence (and not rumours or media sensationalism) to be able to hold to account relevant persons, bodies or agencies.  Death investigation at every turn must be dispassionate, factual, evidence based and professional.  The mere act of autopsy procedure without competent appreciation of all the elements of such an undertaking makes a mockery of the entire procedure and portends a worse form of injustice to the dead, concerned family and the general public. Therefore, in carrying out an autopsy on the body of late Festus Iyayi and in other forensic cases, the process is as important as the procedure and a compromise of one, defeats the purpose of the other.