The ongoing coroner's inquest into last year's crash of a Dana Airline's plane in Iju-Ishaga, Lagos State, suffered a setback on Monday due to the absence of the Lagos State Pathologist and Chief Medical Examiner, John Obafunwa.
About 153 persons on the MD-83 plane and others on the ground died in the crash which occurred on June 3, 2012.
Obafunwa, who doubles as the Vice-Chancellor of the Lagos State University, was supposed to appear before the coroner court in Ikeja for cross-examination.
Counsel for Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Akinjide Bakare, told the court that Obafunwa was absent because he had to attend to a certain crisis in LASU.
He said, "I spoke with him last night and this morning. He said he had a crisis in LASU that he had to attend to.
"He hoped to be here this morning but, unfortunately, he could not make it."
Meanwhile, counsel for Dana Air, Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN), who expressed worry over Obafunwa's absence, urged the coroner to specifically direct Obafunwa to appear on Tuesday.
Ayorinde said, "When I was cross-examining him, I said it was impossible for him to be chief examiner and vice-chancellor at the same time.
"It is not right for somebody to say 'my other job' was the reason for my absence when all of us have gathered here. He must be here tomorrow."
Obafunwa, who had earlier testified in the course of the inquest, providing details of the post-mortem results and the process of identifying the crash victims, is expected to be cross-examined by Dana's counsel.
He had also given reason why Adekunbi Banjo, a consultant for the Accident Investigation Bureau, was excluded from his team of pathologists because she allegedly attempted to discourage him from performing the identification tests on all the victims.
According to Obafunwa, Banjo, a professor of Anatomical Pathology, had suggested to him to only perform the test on the pilot and co-pilot of the crashed plane.
Meanwhile, the coroner, Mr. Oyetade Komolafe, had granted request by the AIB, seeking the court to grant an audience to Banjo for her to state her own side of the story.
Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, is also expected to testify in the course of the proceedings.
Komolafe adjourned the case until Tuesday.
The Punch