Chrisland: Court fixes inquest for April

Whitney Adeniran, a 12-year-old student at Chrisland School who passed away on February 9, will be the subject of a coroner’s inquiry that will begin on April 4.

Following hearing from all of the attorneys present before the court in the Ikeja Magistrates’ Court, Magistrate Olabisi Fajana set the date.

Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, the dead family’s counsel, had previously notified the court that they had been unable to comply with the court’s instructions to file a witness statement at the previous postponed date.

Falana testified before the court that the Magistrate Registry refused to enroll the witness statement because there was no facility for filling out coroner protocols.

The counsel for Chrisland School, Mr Olukayode Enitan, SAN, and the state counsel, Mr Akin George, also corroborated the position of Falana, seeking the court’s directives as to how to get their processes filed.

Fajana informed the counsels that she would get directives from the Chief Magistrate on how to ensure that the processes were filed before the Coroner.

Enitan informed the court that he had an application before it, seeking to get samples and materials to carry out an independent evaluation of the autopsy report.

In a counter-reaction, Falana, who said that they have not been served, told the court that the autopsy of the deceased was done in the presence of the school representatives and other concerned parties.

However, the state counsel, George, told the court that what the state received was a letter, not an application, and the state would respond at the appropriate time.

Falana, thereafter, adjourned the commencement of trial until April 4 and advised all counsels to ensure that their processes were filed and confirmed on April 3.

Whitney died during the school’s inter-house sports activities at the Agege Stadium, after being electrocuted and suffering Asphyxia, the post-mortem report from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital revealed.

The 12-year-old was buried in Lagos last Thursday.

Recall that the Director of Public Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Alo Grace, in a statement indicated that the Directorate of Public Prosecutions had been instructed by the AG to issue legal advice on the matter with immediate effect.