A Safety Officer with the Lagos State Safety Commission, Engineer Waheed Ariyo Wahab has said that his investigations did not reveal that any of the defendants were responsible for electricity at the Agege Stadium, where Whitney Adeniran, a student of the Chrisland School allegedly died.
The fourth prosecution witness stated this while being cross-examined at the continuation of the ongoing matter before Justice Oyindamola Ogala of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja.
The witness who claimed he investigated the incident informed the court that nobody told him Whitney died from electrocution.
He said his agency’s report on the cause of death of Whitney Adeniran, a student of Chrisland School, was based on interrogation and pictures taken after her demise at the Agege Stadium.
Recall that the state government on March 30, 2023, arraigned the Cotton Candy vendor Ademoye Adewale, the school’s instructor Kuku Fatai, the principal of the school Belinda Amao, the school Nurse Victoria Nwatu and Chrisland School Limited, over the death of Whitney.
The defendants were charged to court over a-two counts of involuntary manslaughter, reckless and negligent acts preferred against them by the Lagos State Government.
In continuation of his evidence, Engineer Ariyo further noted that Chrisland School was not present at the stadium on the day he inspected the Agege Stadium but insisted that the inspection of the premises revealed infractions.
The witness claimed, “The report is a reflection of what we observed on the day of the inspection.
“In our report, a reassessment was said to have been conducted, but we were not there because we were not called upon.
“I am not aware that reassessments were conducted on two occasions, specifically on January 13, 2023, and February 8, 2023.
“I do not know the role the 3rd defendant played because I was not at the stadium on the day of the inter-house sports.
“The accident report was not presented to the Safety Commission before the final report was sent to the Ministry of Education.”
The witness admitted that he did not request the medical report of the deceased, (Whitney) nor did he visit her parents to obtain her medical history.
According to him, “I did not, before now, see the medical report issued by Inland Specialist Hospital on the late Whitney.
“Our investigation did not indicate that the 3rd defendant was responsible for electricity at the stadium, and none of the defendants were found to be in charge of electricity at the stadium.”
The trial judge, Justice Ogala adjourned the matter to December 11, 2024 for continuation.
