Michael Adeniran, the father of a 12-year-old Chrisland International School student, Opebi branch, has taken to social media to cry out over the death of his daughter, Whitney Adeniran, who allegedly died during the school’s inter-house sports activities.
According to posts making the rounds on social media on Saturday, Adeniran said his daughter died on Thursday at the Agege Stadium, where the school used for its sporting activities.
According to him, the child had no health condition or sickness as at when the school bus picked her up for the event.
Adeniran, who also said that there was no explanation given to himself and his wife from the school, added that his wife was present at the stadium, but the school did not call her attention to the incident immediately.
He has subsequently called on the Lagos State Government and the police to look into the matter and get justice for his slain child.
Adeniran wrote, “To the biggest shock of my life by 1 pm in the afternoon, I got a call from my wife that she was informed that our daughter slumped at the inter-house sport and she was rushed to the clinic.
“My wife was at the venue even before the event started. She was never informed or called until they have conveyed our child out of the venue before they informed her. On arrival of my wife at the health center where they took my daughter. my daughter was lying dead with her lips black and her tongue black.
“My wife called me urgently, I left my office to the place and found my 12year old daughter lying dead on the ground. I asked questions about what happened to my daughter and the school authority could not get me any information as to what happened to my child in their care.
“I gave Chrisland school a healthy vibrant young girl what Chrisland returned to me is a dead child. My entire family is in deep sorrow but the school Authority claimed they know nothing about my daughter’s death and all they know is that my daughter slumped and died.”
Adeniran further said the school had no ambulance or paramedics at the event, except for a nurse he described as a “quack,” who he said later confessed that the child died at the stadium.
He added that, “My question is what happened to my daughter at Agege stadium? As a father, I demand answers from Chrisland International High School. I am in deep pain and sorrow right now. If you are a father you will understand my pain. My daughter is highly loved by us. We cherished her existence and we can never allow an institution to gloss over the death of our daughter.
“Since we started asking this question. The school has been asking us to back down from the autopsy and I know they know their way into the system. I am calling on the pathology department of @lasuth to please be honest with their result. Lagos State government, Nigerian Government, please intervene.”
Many Nigerians have taken to social media to demand justice for the dead child, calling on the government and the police to intervene.
Chrisland School reacts
The management of Chrisland School have given their side of the story.
In a statement signed by the Chairman of the school’s Advisory Board, Ike Ofuokwu, the 12-year-old deceased “slumped in public view and not under any hidden circumstances.”
“Our immediate response was to take advantage of proximity by identifying the nearest medical facility to take her to, where the doctor on duty administered oxygen and every aid possible on her,” said Mr Ofuokwu.
According to the statement, the student opted not to participate in the inter-house sports match past “for reasons we were not very sure about.”
The statement further noted: “However, on discretion, we respected her decision to err on the side of caution because, on the 20th of January, it is in our records that she complained about not-too-buoyant health and we immediately contacted her parents.
“Even as her family made funeral plans for an immediate burial, we differed politely and reiterated the need to establish a scientific verification of the underlying cause of death as mandatorily required in circumstances like this. We immediately notified regulatory stakeholders and agencies to allow for a comprehensive evaluation and assessment of the developments.
“In spite of the compelling imperatives to fill any information gaps in public space, we stopped short of making any media sensation out of this because the deceased in question was a minor and deserving of our unqualified respect. We also prioritised according respect to the privacy of the family and were with them consistently to mourn together.”
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