A Lagos State Safety Commission officer, Engineer Wahab Ariyo, has told a Lagos High Court in Ikeja that his investigation into the death of Whitney Adeniran, a student of Chrisland Schools, found no evidence linking the defendants to the control or supply of electricity at Agege Stadium, where the tragic incident occurred.
The Lagos State Government had, on March 30, 2023, arraigned five defendants, including a Cotton Candy vendor, Ademoye Adewale, the school’s instructor, Kuku Fatai, the school principal, Belinda Amao, the school nurse, Victoria Nwatu, and Chrisland School Limited, over alleged negligence leading to Whitney’s death during an inter-house sports competition.
Testifying before Justice Oyindamola Ogala, Ariyo, a prosecution witness, stated that his findings showed no connection between the defendants and the stadium’s electricity supply.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel, Mr Oluyele Delana (SAN), Ariyo admitted that his report was based on a single visit to the stadium and did not include statements from non-Chrisland staff who were present during the incident.
“I did not ask the stadium manager about the power supply. I only observed that each vendor had brought individual generator sets to operate their machines,” he said.
He further admitted that he did not inspect the generators or assess their capacity to cause electrocution.
Ariyo also disclosed that he had made a second visit to the stadium alone, but this was not documented in his report.
He acknowledged that he had not reviewed the medical report from Inland Specialist Hospital, nor had he interviewed the deceased’s parents or consulting doctor, saying he did not consider it necessary.
Meanwhile, Delana (SAN) raised concerns about gaps in the investigation, including the omission of key witness testimonies and the lack of documentation on Ariyo’s second site visit.
Following the testimony, the court adjourned the case until March 19 for the continuation of the trial.
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