Whitney: Chrisland Did Not Adhere to Child Safeguarding Policy

Yesterday, Mr. Yakubu Abisogun, a Deputy Director at the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development, informed a Lagos State High Court in Ikeja that Chrisland Schools, Ikeja, had not adhered to the state’s safeguarding and child protection policy.

Abisogun, a Level-16 Social Wellbeing Officer, said the ministry’s findings showed that the schools’ preparedness for emergencies during the inter-house sport was close to none.

He said the school had just one nurse and there was no available ambulance to convey any student to the hospital in case of an emergency.

The witness, who was led in evidence by the Director of the Department of Public Prosecutions, DPP, Dr. Babajide Martins, said he was the state’s coordinator for all the districts.

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The witness noted that there were over 1,722 private and public secondary schools, and they were divided into districts based on their locations.

He said the school did not have a designated Child Safeguarding Protection Policy personnel as required by the Safeguarding Executive Order of the state.

According to him, the policy demanded that there should be a retainer hospital that was close to the venue but in the case of Chrisland, there was none.

“The designated safety protection child policy officer takes the lead responsibility in terms of risk and every other information surrounding the place of event of such magnitude but in case of Chrisland School, they did not have any.

“We got to know about the incident at Chrisland School through the social media.
“We have a Safeguarding and Child Protection Alliance group, it comprises of all relevant agencies that ensures child safety.

“We called for an emergency virtual meeting immediately we heard of the issue,” he said.
The witness also told the court that findings showed the school had over 556 students out of which 377 were prepared to participate.

The witness said that over 500 of them were transported to the venue by the school and it was discovered that the Safety and Child Protection Policy had been violated because they took over 500 pupils to the venue without safety clearance.

Recall that the Lagos State Government on March 31, 2023, charged Chrisland Schools, its principal and vice principal and two others with the killing of Whitney Adediran.

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Adediran, a 12-year-old student, was allegedly electrocuted on February 9, 2023, during the school’s inter-house sports competition at the Agege Stadium, Lagos State.

Justice Oyindamola Ogala adjourned the case until March 13, for continuation of trial.