Chrisland: Late Student’s Mother Testifies Before Court

Mrs Blessing Adeniran, the mother of Whitney Adeniran, the late student of Chrisland Schools, Opebi, Lagos, has testified at the trial of the school and four others for involuntary manslaughter.

The bereaved mother testified before an Ikeja High Court.

She was led in evidence by Lagos State director of public prosecutions, Dr Adewale Martins, and cross-examined by defence counsel including Chief Richard Ahonaruogho (SAN).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Lagos State government, on March 31, 2023, charged Chrisland Schools, its principal and vice principal and two others with the killing of the student.

The 12-year-old student was allegedly electrocuted on February 9, 2023, during the school’s inter-house sports at the Agege Stadium, Lagos State.

Those charged alongside the school are Ademoye Adewale (a cotton candy vendor), Kuku Fatai, Belinda Amao (Principal) and Victoria Nwatu.

The defendants were arraigned before Justice Oyindamola Ogala.

During her cross-examination by Ahonaruogho, the bereaved mother said that she did not know the effects of the combination of Nitrazepam and Amitriptyline drugs.

NAN reports that the drugs were mentioned in a report by  Inland Specialist Hospital (Exhibit PW1 (B)) before the court.

The report is dated February 16.

The drugs were prescribed for the late student on Jan. 20, 2023, by Inland Specialist Hospital, when the witness and her husband took the deceased to the hospital for treatment.

The witness said that the school principal had called her on the same day and told her that her daughter was ill and having difficulty breathing.

“I called my husband to inform him because I was at a gym. He picked her from school and took her to the hospital, and he said I should join them there.

“I went to the hospital and met my daughter and her dad playing a game with his phone, and  she seemed fine to me. I said they like going to the hospital, and we laughed,” she testified.

According to the witness, when her daughter’s vital signs were checked at the hospital, the doctor told her parents that she was alright, and asked if she had examinations in school that could warrant mild anxiety, but the parents told the doctor that she was rather preparing for inter-house sports.

The witness said that she did not know what the drugs were meant to treat.

Ahonaruogho had asked if she was aware that the drugs were meant to treat panic disorder, severe anxiety and insomnia, and the witness answered in the negative.

The judge adjourned the case to today for continuation of cross-examination of the witness.