The family of the late Favour Daley-Oladele said that an order from the Lagos State Ministry of Health stopped it from burying her remains at the Atan Cemetery in the Yaba Local Government Area of the state on Tuesday.

Speaking at the cemetery, Favour’s uncle, Solomon Toyeme, said the family members had mobilised to the ministry to retrieve her corpse for burial, but were instructed to suspend the arrangement for the sake of the investigation.

Toyeme said, “We were told that some procedures needed to be met and that we needed to stop the burial so that we won’t lose the case. The family had made an arrangement and we were at the Lagos State Ministry of Health to retrieve Favour’s corpse for burial when we got a call that we should not go ahead with the burial today .

“We were told that some procedures needed to be observed and that we needed to stop the burial so that we wouldn’t lose the case. I plead with everybody to hold on until the investigation is completed.”

When contacted, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Olusegun Ogboye, who spoke through the Director, Public Affairs, Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, said, “Presently, there is a forensic investigation going on and the police investigation is also ongoing. The moment we get the report, the family will be able to go ahead with the burial. So, the investigation is still ongoing.”

Reacting to the development, the Speaker, LASU Students’ Union Government, Olayinka Kuku, who led some undergraduates of the institution to pay their last respect to the deceased, said he believed that the postponement of the burial was for justice to prevail.

“Getting here and finding out that Favour would not be buried was not something we feel happy about, but we are very confident that the reason for it is important and has to do with getting justice for our late school mate. We are not demoralised and we are motivated that justice will prevail,” Kuku stated.

PUNCH Metro had reported that Favour, the daughter of a pastor, David Daley-Oladele, was allegedly murdered by her lover, Owolabi Adeeko; his mother, Mrs Bola Adeeko; and the pastor of a white garment church, Segun Philips, in the Ikoyi-Ile area of Osun State, for money rituals.

When efforts to locate her whereabouts proved abortive, a case of a missing person was reported to the Ogun State Police Command by Favour’s parents.

During the investigation, a tracker traced the deceased’s phone to Ikoyi-Ile in Osun State, where the suspects were arrested.

Owolabi and Philips had confessed during interrogation that after she was killed, they dismembered her corpse and used some vital parts of her body for money rituals.