Lagos orders coroner’s inquest into death of Chrisland’s Whitney Adeniran

The Lagos state government has ordered a coroner’s inquest into the death of Whitney Adeniran.

Whitney, a 12-year-old student of Chrisland School in Opebi Ikeja, died during a sports event on February 9.

Blessing, the student’s mother, accused Chrisland of negligence as her family continued to question the school.

She claimed the school made no provision for emergency response at the event, hence didn’t administer first aid.

The mother said the girl had no pre-existing heart condition despite the doctor’s allusion to a cardiac arrest.

The Lagos education ministry ordered a temporary closure of the school, pending an investigation into the matter.

But on Monday, Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), the state attorney-general and commissioner for justice, ordered a coroner’s inquest into the case for a “thorough investigation” that will ascertain the cause of death.

The commissioner, while reassuring the public of state intervention, said the well-being of citizens is paramount.

“A Coroner’s Inquest has immediately been requested in line with sections 14 and 15 of the Coroners’ Systems Law, Laws of Lagos State 2015, to determine the cause and circumstances of the death of the student,” he said.

“The findings of this investigation will be made public in due course and appropriate sanctions meted out to anyone found culpable.”

While reacting to public criticism, the management at Chrisland School earlier said Whitney had reported “not-too-buoyant” health on January 20, contrary to claims by her parents.

This is not the first time Chrisland School Lagos 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 runs a number of schools spread across Lagos and Abuja in Nigeria, with its branches including those at Ikeja (Opebi & Ladipo Oluwole), Abuja, Victoria Garden City, Lekki, Festac Area (Amuwo-Odofin), and Idimu.