UPDATE: Coroner Okays Chrisland School’s Independent Autopsy On Late 12-Year-Old Student, Whitney Adeniran

The Coroner inquest set up to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of Whitney Adeniran, a 12-year-old student of Chrisland School, Lagos, has granted the school’s request to access samples obtained from the deceased for an independent autopsy.

The Magistrate, Olabisi Fajana, gave the permission on Tuesday when she ruled on the application when sitting resumed at the Ogba Magistrate Court, Ikeja District Court 13.

The Lagos State Government had announced in February that the report of the autopsy it earlier conducted on the body revealed she died from “asphyxia and electrocution”, during the school’s inter-house sports event on 9 February.

However, the school through its lawyer, Olukayode Enitan, told the coroner that the request for an independent autopsy was made because its representative pathologist during the one conducted earlier only attended as an observer and “did not carry out any tests on the samples.”

To conduct an independent autopsy, the school requested the paraffin block of the skin sample and slides from which the diagnosis of electrocution was made, the samples of the urine, blood, and other body fluid collected at autopsy, samples of bone and muscle taken from the deceased for independent DNA analysis.

The school also requested all photographs taken during the conduct of the autopsy, copies of any other working samples and documents made in the course of the autopsy, and the result of all toxicology tests conducted.

The counsels to the state government and the deceased family, Akin George and Femi Falana respectively, reportedly did not object to the application.

SEE ALSO: UPDATE: Mother Of Chrisland Student Who Died During School’s Inter-house Sports Fumes As Autopsy Result Reveals The Real Cause Of Her Daughter’s Death 

The magistrate subsequently ordered that the chief medical examiner of LASUTH should supply all the requested items to the independent forensic pathologist on the day of forensic consultation which should be carried out within Lagos State, the jurisdiction of the court.

Mrs Fajana also noted that the applicant must ensure that the pathologist of the family of the deceased should be granted access as an observer during the consultation.

Meanwhile, the magistrate has also invited the parents of the late student to testify before the court on 17 April.

The management of the school has also denied that it seeks exhumation of the remains of the deceased already buried.

In a statement issued Wednesday morning, it pleaded with the public to disregard the rumour that it seeks exhumation of the body before conducting a fresh autopsy.

The statement, which was signed by the Chairman of the school’s Advisory Board, Ike Ofuokwu, lamented the twisted report of the order of the court.

ALSO SEE: Lagos State Govt. Orders Coroner Inquest Into The Tragic Death Of 12-Year-Old Chrisland School Pupil

He said:

“The Magistrate affirms that the application for an independent review was served on both the State and the Counsel to the family and neither the family nor their Counsel filed any counter affidavit to oppose this motion for an independent reevaluation to unravel the truth.

“Counsel to the State had earlier applied that the court should order the attendance of the State Pathologist at the cost of the Applicant which the Applicant did not object to.

With both the family and Chrisland school’s counsel aligned on this position, the Court therefore directed that the consultation by the independent forensic pathologist be carried out within Lagos State and the Pathologist of the deceased’s family granted access as an observer during the exercise.”