The present study reviews 876 consecutive coroner's autopsies performed in the Department of Pathology, University College Hospital, Ibadan over a two-year period (1 February 1991 to 31 January 1993). The hospital autopsy rate during the study period was 36.2%, and 62.5 per cent of these post-mortems were medico-legal cases. The most common indications for coroner's autopsies were sudden natural deaths (55.6%), followed by accidental deaths (35.3%). The proportions of maternal (4.3%), homicidal (3.1%) and suicidal (0.3%) deaths were much lower. The male to female ratio was 1.7 to 1. Ninety-one (10.4%) of the cases fell within the paediatric age group and the peak age incidence for these cases was in the 5-14 years age group. The remaining 785 (89.6%) cases were adults and the peak age incidence for these cases was in the fourth decade of life. The most common cause of sudden natural death was cardiovascular disease, of which hypertension constituted the majority of cases. Other major causes of sudden death included pneumonia, meningitis, typhoid fever and neoplastic diseases. Road traffic accidents accounted for 78 per cent of accidental deaths followed by falls (13.3%) and burns (4.6%). Abortions, post-partum haemorrhage and eclampsia were the major causes of maternal deaths in the present study. Homicidal deaths were eight times more frequent in male than female victims and the commonest mode of death was gunshot injuries. Suicidal deaths remain extremely uncommon in African patients, as confirmed by our study.

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A review of 400 consecutive medico-legal autopsies in the Ife-Ijesha zone of Western Nigeria is reported to highlight the medico-legal problems in Nigeria. The majority of these cases (71 per cent) were accidental deaths. There were only 44 sudden natural deaths out of which 18 were children under 15 years old. In only 16 cases (4 per cent) were the circumstances consistent with suicide; and there were 15 homicidal deaths. There were 9 cases in which it was not possible to determine the cause of death, and 2 deaths from criminal abortions. The results were compared to those from other parts of Africa.

There is relatively little information regarding the pattern of homicides in developing countries such as Nigeria. This study is aimed at determining the pattern and demographic factors associated with homicide cases seen in a Nigerian Teaching Hospital. It is a descriptive autopsy study of homicide cases seen at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan over a 10-year period from January 1997 to December 2006. All the coroner's autopsies for the period, of homicides or suspected homicides, were reviewed with emphasis on the following: gender, age, occupation, circumstances surrounding event, likely motive, type of weapon used, site(s) of injury and mechanism of death. Homicides accounted for 153 (3.1%) of the 4928 coroner's cases at the UCH within the study period. One hundred and thirty-seven of the 152 cases were men, and the overall age range was 4-83 years. The mechanism of death was haemorrhagic shock in 91 cases (59.9%); severe raised intracranial pressure in 58 cases (38.2%); septicaemic shock in two cases (1.3%); and asphyxia in one case (0.7%). Gunshot injuries accounted for 64.5% of the fatalities, sharp objects 21.1% and blunt force 14.5%. Most were victims of armed robbery attacks. The head, abdomen, chest and lower limbs were single sites of injuries in descending order of frequency and most of the cases sustained multiple injuries involving two or more of these sites. Gunshot deaths were the commonest form of homicides in the period under review. Young males and victims of armed robbery attacks were most susceptible.