Lagos govt to prosecute Chrisland School over Whitney Adeniran’s death

Chrisland School, Ikeja is to be prosecuted by the Lagos State government for alleged involuntary manslaughter, reckless, and negligent act over the death of a 12-year-old student, Whitney Adeniran.

Adeniran died from electrocution during the school’s inter-house sports competition at Agege stadium.

The state government, in a statement issued on Friday by the Director of Public Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Grace Alo, said the case was referred to the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) which carried out thorough investigation with the help of other agencies.

“The file was subsequently forwarded to the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) office on March 20 for review of the duplicate case file.

“On March 23, the DPP issued his legal advice and came to the conclusion that a prima facie case of involuntary manslaughter and reckless and negligent acts had been established against the school.

“Some members of staff and one of the vendors will therefore be charged with the offences contrary to sections 224 and 251of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015,” the statement said.

The state government added that information would be filed in accordance with the legal advice issued by the DPP, saying that certified true copies of the legal advice would be available on the ministry of justice website.

It would be recalled that Adeniran, on February 9, 2023, slumped during the inter-house sports organised by the school at the Agege Sports Stadium and was subsequently rushed to Agege Central Hospital, where she was confirmed “brought in dead” by the doctor on duty.

The state government, on March 2, said the post-mortem report issued by the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) showed the cause of the death was asphyxia and electrocution.