A prosecution witness in the ongoing case between Lagos State Government and Chrisland School, Jubril Yakubu, told an Ikeja High Court on Thursday that he was not aware that there were three Child Protection Officers from the school at Agege Stadium on the day of the inter-house sport.
He informed Justice Oyindamola Ogala that he was also not aware that the trio of Mrs Taylor, Mrs Fajemirokun, and Mrs Oladimeji, who were at the stadium on the inter-house sports day, were present on February 14, because he did not check the attendee list.
Chrisland School and four staffers, including the principal, vice principal, and two others, were allegedly accused by the Lagos State Government of negligence over the death of a 12-year-old student, Whitney Adeniran, during an inter-house sports competition that was held at the Agege Stadium, Lagos State.
The defendants were charged before the court on March 30, 2023, and they all pleaded not guilty.
At the resumed hearing and while being cross-examined by counsel to the fourth defendant, Ademola Animashaun, the witness confirmed that he is aware that Chrisland School has trained their staff on safeguarding policy and that he was once a facilitator during such training.
When asked if he agrees that the primary responsibility for school safety rests on his ministry, he answered in the affirmative.
Yakubu, the third prosecution witness who reaffirmed before the court that he is a Deputy Director with the Ministry of Youth and Social Development in Lagos State, noted that he did not know that the school had an emergency bus on the ground on the day of the incident, but he is aware that they have a school bus at the venue.
“I am aware that the school had a nurse on the ground, but I don’t know if there were any first aiders on the ground on the day of the incident,“ he said.
When asked if he is aware that the deceased mother attended the inter-house sport, he said yes, but he does not know if she was taken to the hospital by the school.
“I am aware that the deceased was taken to the primary health centre in Agege and that the stadium is far from the primary health centre where she was taken. I don’t know the time it took the school emergency bus to get to the hospital,” he added.
The counsellor, Barr. Animasaun, brought out his phone to show the Lagos witness GPS timing, which showed the driving distance between the stadium and the hospital to be three minutes.
The witness also reaffirmed that the meeting of February 14, 2023, was fact-finding and that he wrote his report based on the findings at the meeting held on the cause of death.
“I don’t know whether the autopsy report was out, as at the time I did my report, I also recommended that the cause of death be looked into,” he said.
When asked if he knows that his report contains the wrong account because he did not capture the account of the school for what transpired on February 9, 2023, he replied in the negative.
“I was not aware that the school got to know about the death of the deceased until after the event, but I can confirm that the commissioner ordered the closure of the school after the incident.
“I can also confirm that the doctor at Agege Central Hospital, where the deceased was taken, is a qualified medical professional, and that the hospital is licenced,” he explained.
After listening to the witness evidence, Justice Ogala adjourned further proceedings until June 3 and 6, 2024.
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