Lulu-Briggs’ widow loses suit to stop inquest into his death

A high court in Accra, Ghana, has dismissed an application filed by Seinye, widow of Benson Lulu-Briggs, founder of Moni Pulo Limited, to stop the orders of the coroner for an inquest into the death of her husband.

In a statement on Friday, Sotonye Ijuye-Dagogo, spokesman of Dumo Lulu-Briggs, second eldest son of the deceased, said the dismissed suit is Seinye’s second application thrown out within a period of four days.

On Tuesday, the court declined the widow’s application for an injunction to stop the Ghana police and the transition funeral home from releasing the mortal remains of her late husband to the family, until her application to stop the inquest is determined.

The judge’s decision to decline her application enabled the family to take custody of the corpse.

On September 6, a magistrate and coroner had ordered an inquest into the death of Lulu-Briggs, saying “with this additional information to the one that forms the basis of the police application, I have reasonable cause to believe that the deceased did not die a natural death and I therefore deem an inquest necessary and accordingly order for one to be done”.

But in her application, Seinye said the coroner lacked the geographical jurisdiction to order for an inquest and that if the corpse was released before her application was heard, it would prejudice her case.

“Strangely, Seinye Lulu-Brigggs brought a certiorari application to a High Court to quash the orders of the Coroner for an inquest into the circumstances of her husband’s death. Her application was thrown out today, the second application thrown out within four days. The inquest as ordered by the Coroner therefore stands,” the statement read.

“It is instructive that an inquest is not a criminal trial but an investigation into circumstances where a the Coroner has reasonable cause to believe that a death was violent or unnatural or where the cause of death is unknown. An Inquest includes an autopsy but is not limited to an autopsy. An Inquest is therefore an investigation into cause and circumstances of a death.”

Meanwhile, Seinye has filed another application before a court, requesting the the country’s attorney-general to cancel the “export permit” granted Dumo to take his father’s remains from Ghana to Nigeria.