Chrisland school to remain shut as Lagos probes safety risks affecting students

Chrisland School Ikeja is to stay shut pending further probe of safety risks affecting its students.

NAN reports that Folashade Adefisayo, Lagos commissioner for education, revealed this in a statement on Sunday.

Whitney Adeniran, a pupil of Chrisland High School in Ikeja, died on February 9 during sports in Agege Stadium.

Blessing Adeniran, Whitney’s mother, had accused Chrisland of negligence at the event that led to her death.

The school had dismissed insinuations that there was foul play in the case while citing that she slumped in public.

Chrisland also argued that Whitney complained about “not-too-buoyant health” a few days before she died.

The state government later revealed that an autopsy shows the schoolgirl died from asphyxia and electrocution.

Prior to this, the state ministry of education ordered a temporary closure of the school pending an investigation.

The state now says the school will stay shut pending a further probe of some safety risks it said affects other pupils.

In her statement announcing this, the education commissioner Adefisayo said: “The closure of the school paved the way for unhindered investigation and afforded all stakeholders time to grief.

“In view of the circumstances surrounding the death of the child, the Lagos state attorney-general and commissioner for justice ordered a coroner’s inquest into the matter to ascertain the cause.

“The Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) conducted the autopsy on Feb. 15.

“The autopsy report, dated March 1, revealed the cause of death as asphyxia and electrocution.

“The attorney-general and commissioner for justice directed that the DPP issue legal advice on the matter.

“Without prejudice to the criminal proceedings, the school will remain shut to further interrogate the endangerment of students and others.”

Adefisayo stated that the office of education quality assurance in her ministry met with the management of the school to ascertain adherence to child safeguarding policies during the planning of the infamous sports event.

“The meeting examined the planning of the inter-house sports event and the aftermath of the unfortunate incident. It was discovered that there were lapses,’’ the commissioner added.

It is understood that a government delegation visited the bereaved family in commiseration on March 2.

This is not the first time Chrisland School would be at the centre of a crisis involving one of its students.

In mid-2022, four teachers were arraigned after a sex tape by Chrisland pupils surfaced online during an outing.

In 2019, an ex-staffer of the Chrisland in VGC bagged a 60-year jail term for defiling a two-year-old girl in 2016.

Chrisland Group runs a number of top-rated schools spread across Lagos and Abuja, with its branches including those at Ikeja (Opebi & Ladipo Oluwole), Victoria Garden City, Lekki, Festac Area (Amuwo-Odofin), and Idimu.