Nearly six years after journalist Pelumi Onifade disappeared while covering the #EndSARS protests in Lagos, a DNA test has confirmed that a body kept in government custody belongs to him.

The confirmation was made at a Coroner Court sitting in Lagos, where findings from the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre established a match between an unidentified body tagged 1385 and a DNA sample provided by Onifade's mother.

The development brought an emotional moment in court as the late journalist's parents broke down in tears after hearing the result.

Onifade, a reporter with Gboah TV, went missing on October 24, 2020, while covering unrest that followed the #EndSARS protests in the Agege area of Lagos. Reports at the time indicated that he was shot and later taken away by security operatives despite being identified as a journalist.

His body was later discovered among unidentified corpses taken to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, where an autopsy was conducted. However, years of uncertainty, legal proceedings and disputes over identification delayed confirmation of his fate.

The latest DNA findings mark a major breakthrough in the long-running quest by his family and media rights advocates to establish what happened to the young reporter.

For years, Onifade's death has remained one of the most controversial cases linked to the #EndSARS protests, attracting calls for justice from press freedom organisations and civil society groups within and outside Nigeria.

Although the DNA result has resolved questions surrounding the identity of the body, the coroner's inquest into the circumstances of his death is expected to continue as efforts to determine responsibility remain ongoing.