Whitney Adeniran: Lagos Arraigns Chrisland School, Four Employees For Manslaughter

On Thursday, the Lagos department of public prosecution arraigned Chrisland School Ltd and four of its employees for the alleged manslaughter of 12-year-old student Whitney Adeniran.

The school and the staff (Ademoye Adewale, Kuku Fatai, Belinda Amao, and Nwatu Ugochi Victoria) are facing a two-count charge of manslaughter and negligent acts.

The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge after it was read to them.

They were arraigned before Justice Oyindamola Ogala of the Ikeja Division of the State High Court.

Adeniran slumped on February 9, 2023, during an inter-house sports activity by the school at the Agege Sports Stadium.

An autopsy later carried out at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, indicated that the pupil died of asphyxia and electrocution.

The case was referred to the police which carried out an investigation with the help of other agencies. The file was subsequently forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions office on Monday, March 20, 2023, for review of the duplicate case file.

On March 23, 2023, the DPP issued his legal advice having established a prima facie case of involuntary manslaughter and reckless and negligent acts against the school, some members of its workers and one of the vendors.

The DPP, Dr Babajide Martins, leading other lawyers, will prosecute the case on behalf of the state.

We gathered that the defence team will include Chief Bolaji Ayorinde, SAN, Mr Yele Delano, SAN, Chief Richard Ahonaruogho, SAN and Mr Kayode Enitan,SAN, leading other counsel.

The victim’s mother, Blessing, on March 3, 2023, confirmed the autopsy result during a live Instagram video.

She said: “The autopsy result is out and Desola was electrocuted. My daughter died of electrocution. I have been subjected to trauma for the past two weeks. Tomorrow, March 4, will be three weeks since my baby died. The school made me think I was crazy.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *