A widow, Mrs. Opeyemi Adegboyega, has sued the Ondo State government over the alleged disappearance of her son, Oluwaseun Omoniyi, while in the custody of the state’s juvenile home.
In the suit, the widow alleged negligence and failure on the part of the state government and its agencies to ensure the safety and well-being of Oluwaseun, while in their custody.
According to the widow, her child was admitted into the juvenile home in 2017 when he was just three months old. At that time, she was said to be receiving medical treatment in a hospital.
Also joined in the suit are the state Commissioner for Women Affairs and the state Attorney-General.The juvenile home reportedly offered to take care of, and provide custody for all her three children during her hospitalisation.
However, Adegboyega resolved to leave only her youngest child, Oluwaseun, who was three months old at the time, in their care. After a month of receiving treatment, Adegboyega said she went to retrieve her child from the juvenile home, only to discover that Oluwaseun was missing.
Upon her full recovery a month later, she said she went back to the juvenile home with her mother to demand for her baby, but was told that her child had died and the corpse deposited at the mortuary of the Ondo State Specialist Hospital.
On getting to the state hospital, she was told that the hospital did not receive any corpse from the state Juvenile Home during the said period, and all petitions on the matter to the state governor, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, the Ministry of Women Affairs, and Department of State Services, yielded no result.
Adegboyega, who filed the suit through her lawyer, Mr. Oju Kekemeke, sought an order of the court directing the defendants to account for the whereabouts of Omoniyi Oluwaseun, whose disappearance occurred while in the custody of the state Juvenile home, under the supervision of the state Ministry of Women Affairs.
She also sought an order directing the defendants to pay her N50 million as “exemplary and aggravated damages,” and N40 million as general damages, for the excruciating pain, anguish, personal loss, and psychological trauma caused by the negligent act of the defendants, as well as N5 million as “cost of the action.”
The claimant also sought an order that 15 per cent interest per year be paid on the judgment sum from the date of the judgment until it is finally liquidated. Kekemeke vowed that the matter would be pursued until her client got justice.
Credit: The Guardian
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