A deputy director with the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Mr. Jubril Yakubu, told an Ikeja High Court that there was no need for a stadium to have an emergency facility.
Yakubu said this while being cross-examined by the third defense counsel, Mr. Olukayode Enitan (SAN), on Thursday.
The witness testified at the trial of Chrisland Schools Ltd., its principal, vice principal, and two others for the killing of its 12-year-old student, Whitney Adediran.
Whitney was allegedly electrocuted during the school’s inter-house sports at the Agege Stadium on Feb. 9, 2023.
The witness said there was no need for a stadium to have an emergency facility.
According to him, sports facilities in the state were owned by the state government.
Yakubu was asked if it was part of the work of the Sports Commission to establish and make sure that there were proper medical facilities to treat emergencies, and he replied in the negative.
Earlier in the cross-examination, the social worker was asked to read the Official Gazette of Lagos State No. 9, volume 50, which was admitted as an exhibit.
He said the commission was created by the law of Lagos State and that Law No. 4 stated the function of the commission.
According to him, the commission was established to maintain playing fields and premises for holding sports competitions, matches in which the district had socio-worker service in charge.
He said that District Six covers Oshodi, Ikeja, Opebi Allen, Agege, Isolo, Abule Egba, and the boundary of Ogun State, adding that he did not know all the social workers in District Six.
The witness also told the court that he did not know if it was normal for people to pay for the usage of sports facilities and that he knew Agege Stadium as part of the recreational centre.
He was asked to read Order Four of the Executive Order, 2016, and he admitted that it applied to the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Sport and not every other officer in Lagos State’s public sector.
Yakubu, in his testimony, told the court that he had an official meeting in 2023 with the staff of Chrisland School and that there were minutes and video recordings of what happened in that meeting.
The witness, however, said he did not have the minutes of the meeting at his disposal.
“I do not have the minutes of the meeting because I am not the admin secretary,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Lagos State Government charged Chrisland School Ltd., Opebi, its principal and vice principal, and two others with the killing of Whitney on March 31, 2023.
Those charged alongside the school are Ademoye Adewale (a cotton candy vendor), Kuku Fatai, Belinda Amao (principal), and Victoria Nwatu.
The judge adjourned the case until April 18 for the continuation of the trial. (NAN)
