The family of the late Senator Isiaka Adeleke has faulted a claim by a Chief Pathologist, Dr. Taiwo Solaja that the deceased’s family is not entitled to an autopsy report.

In a statement, the deceased’s younger brother, Dr. Deji Adeleke, expressed the family’s dissatisfaction at the manner the autopsy report was handled by the pathologist and LAUTECH.

He described the claim as false, unjustifiable, unethical, unprofessional and ridiculous.

Dr. Adeleke accused LAUTECH of refusing to release the remaining sample of tissues removed from the body of the deceased for the conduct of the autopsy that would have helped the family to seek the conduct of “a second autopsy from an ethical, professional and non-political medical facility outside Osun State.”

Adeleke, who insisted that the family reserved the right to be given the report, claimed that they took the body of the late senator to LAUTECH and requested that an autopsy be conducted, after paying for the service.

He said the deceased’s younger sister, Mrs. Dupe Adeleke-Sanni, signed an authorisation letter on behalf of the family.

Dr. Adeleke lamented that the hospital did not issue receipt for payment because it was on a Sunday, saying although Prof. Lasisi promised to issue the receipt on Monday, the family was yet to get it.

He said: “The family ordered for the conduct of the autopsy from the Osun State government-owned LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, as an institution and not from the Chief Pathologist, Dr. Solaja. The autopsy was conducted with the family by Prof. Lasisi.”

The statement said: “On the 9th of May, 2017, the Family requested for the Autopsy report after the expiration of the agreed two (2) weeks period for completion of same. The Chief Medical Director of the Osun State owned LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo Prof. Akeem Lasisi; who claimed to be away in Abuja at the time, confirmed that the Autopsy report was ready and that a copy was already with the Osun State Police Command, while another copy was with the Chief Pathologist at LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo. Alarmed at such a position, the Family queried why a copy of the Autopsy report would be with the Police Command without any copy given to the Family that ordered the Autopsy in the first instance. The Chief Medical Director, Prof. Akeem Lasisi now changed the story saying that the Autopsy was only conducted at the Nigeria Police Forensic Laboratory in Lagos. The Chief Medical Director then promised to send a copy of the Autopsy Report to the Family upon his arrival from Abuja on Monday May 15th, 2017. The Family waited all day on the said Monday for the Chief Medical Director, Prof. Akeem Lasisi to revert as promised to no avail. The Family then called the Chief Medical Director, Prof. Akeem Lasisi at 5.14pm of the same Monday, 15th May, 2017 to remind him to send the Autopsy Report as promised. The Chief Medical Director, Prof. Akeem Lasisi changed the story again, saying that the report was not ready. When asked by the Family for when the report will be finally ready, he responded: “AS SOON AS POSSIBLE”.

“Unknown to the Family this same Chief Medical Director, Prof. Akeem Lasisi had already appeared and testified under oath before the Osun State Kangaroo Inquest, earlier the same day where he testified conclusively, that the cause(s) of the sudden death of Senator Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke was a result of “banned injection overdose” given to him, relying on 3rd party “hearsay” instead of a FORENSIC TOXICOLOGY Report. The Chief Medical Director, Prof. Akeem Lasisi deliberately did not disclose to the Inquest that the Autopsy Report was not ready.

“It is quite disheartening, that we live in a country where some of our supposed professionals can be so easily compromised by their Paymasters without any regard to the oath they swore to as medical health practitioners.

“The Chief Pathologist of the Osun State-owned LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo added “salt to our injuries”, when he told the Kangaroo Inquest on May 19th, that the Adeleke Family was not entitled to the Autopsy Report, because the instruction to carry out the Autopsy was given to him by his Boss, and not the Adeleke Family, which is ridiculous and a complete falsehood.

“Therefore, the Chief Pathologist’s claim that the Adeleke Family is NOT ENTITLED to the Autopsy report because the instruction to conduct the Autopsy was given to him by his Boss and not directly by the Family, is unethical, unprofessional and utterly ridiculous, to say the least.”

Saying the family did not intend to fight anybody over the matter, he noted that they only wanted to know the cause of Adeleke’s death.

His words: “The Adeleke family has decided to leave everything to God. We rest our case.”