A Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja has been informed that Chrisland Schools in Lagos failed to obtain compulsory event safety permit from the Lagos State Safety Commission before holding their inter-house sports competition at the Agege Stadium.
Trouble started on February 9, 2023, when a 12-year-old female student of Chrisland International High School, Opebi, Lagos, Whitney Adeniran, slumped and died during the inter-house sports competition.
The incident brought the school’s annual sporting event to an abrupt end as staff and parents who had converged left immediately after the news of the girl’s death.
The Lagos State Safety Commission (LASG) Safety Officer, Engr Wahab Ariyo, disclosed this at the resumed trial of Chrisland Schools, Opebi, and four of its staff charged with complicity in the death of Whitney, before Justice Oyindamola Ogala.
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The accused persons were arraigned before the court on March 31, 2023, on the alleged violation of the provisions of Sections 224 and 251 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
The accused persons are Ademoye Adewale, Kuku Fatai, Belinda Amao and Victoria Nwatu. They were alleged to have caused the death of Adeniran at about 1pm in the Agege Sports Stadium, Agege, Lagos, by acting recklessly and negligently that endangered her life.
Ariyo, while testifying as the fourth witness for the prosecution (PW4) told the court that the schedule of duty of his office involved responding to emergencies in the state, as well as investigating accidents and incidents to uncover the root and immediate causes of incidents.
The witness informed the court that the commission conducted an investigation to ascertain the root cause of the fatality and to make recommendations to avoid further occurrences.
According to Ariyo, it is important to obtain an Event Safety Permit for schools and public events having 250 guests.
He said that the permit was obtained by visiting the commission’s website to register the event, after which the commission got notified in its office, while an officer would be sent from the events department to the facility to conduct basic assessments.
The trial was further fixed for July 1.
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