The coroner appointed by the Osun State government to investigate the cause of the death of Sen. Isiaka Adeleke, on Monday said his death was caused by drug overdose.
The coroner, Chief Magistrate Olusegun Ayilara, giving verdict in Osogbo, said the evidence before him in no way pointed to poisoning as the cause of death of the late senator, as alleged in some quarters.
“I have critically gone through the evidence before me. From the totality of evidence, the possibility of poisoning of the deceased is not sustainable.
“I have not been able to trace any link to poisoning by anybody. The autopsy report and the toxicologist’s report are specific to say there was no trace of poison or heavy metal in the blood of the deceased.
“Therefore, it is my opinion that he was not poisoned, I so hold.” he said
Ayilara said the evidence of the pathologist, the toxicologist, police forensic expert and the chief medical director of LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, where the autopsy was carried out, “pointed scientifically to the fact that the death of the deceased was caused by aspiration of the gastric content, which blocked his airwaves as a result of high level of alcohol, sedative and analgesic, which caused the vital senses centre in the brain to shut down, resulting in death.”
He said the nurse who treated the deceased before he died, Mr. Alfred Aderibigbe, tried to puncture the scientific evidence, claiming he did not give him overdose, but the evidence he gave in court and the police statement he gave were contradictory.
“The deceased did not die of food poisoning, he had an administration of overdose of sedative and analgesic by an unqualified personnel, Alfred Aderibigbe, through intravenous means, which action was hastened by the presence of alcohol in the system.
“The deceased patronised Aderibigbe for about 20 years and took treatment from him without doctor’s prescription. The high dose of sedative and analgesic with the mode of administration caused his death.”
The coroner recommended that the qualification of Aderibigbe be investigated to be sure he was qualified as he claimed and that the office of the Department of Public Prosecution should look into the case file of Aderibigbe, to determine the appropriate charges, if any, to be brought against him.
“The public should be sensitised by the government on the need to patronise only qualified medical personnel in the treatment of ailments,” Ayilara said.
