Court orders Ondo to pay N25m over missing child in orphanage

An Ondo State High Court located in Akure, the capital of the state, has mandated the state government to compensate Mrs. Opeyemi Adegboyega with N25 million in damages due to the disappearance of her child from a state-operated juvenile facility.

The court determined that the entirety of the evidence provided by the defendants (the government) was deemed "unbelievable, unconscionable, unsubstantiated, untrue, and untenable."

Adegboyega initiated legal action against the Ondo State Government concerning the vanishing of her infant son from the care of one of the state’s juvenile homes in Akure, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Ondo State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

The claimant, who was undergoing treatment for depression and schizophrenia at the Ondo State Neuropsychiatric Hospital, had her three-month-old son placed in the custody of the Ministry of Women Affairs to facilitate her proper outpatient treatment.

Upon her discharge from the hospital after one month, Adegboyega proceeded to the Ondo State Juvenile Home to reclaim her child. She was informed that the baby had passed away and that the remains had been sent to the hospital mortuary.

Subsequently, she visited the State Specialist Hospital, where she was told that no child's body had been deposited at the mortuary by officials from the Ondo State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

Unhappy with this explanation, the claimant, represented by her attorney, Oju Kekemeke, sought recourse in the High Court, naming the Ondo State Government and the Ondo State Ministry of Women Affairs as defendants in the case.

In its ruling, the court concluded that the disappearance of Omoniyi Oluwaseun (the claimant’s child) from the custody of the Ondo State Juvenile Home, overseen by the Ondo State Ministry of Women Affairs, was a result of the negligent actions of the defendants

The court stated, "This court hereby declares that the claimant has endured severe pain, distress, personal loss, and psychological trauma due to the disappearance of Omoniyi Oluwaseun from the Ondo State Juvenile Home, which is under the oversight of the Ondo State Ministry of Women Affairs."

The ruling continued: "An order is issued for the defendants to pay the claimant the amount of N10 million as exemplary and aggravated damages. Additionally, an order is made for the defendants to pay the claimant N15 million as general damages for the severe pain, distress, personal loss, psychological trauma, and ongoing shock experienced by the claimant, resulting from the defendants' negligent actions.

"This court also grants an order for the defendants to pay the claimant N200,000 as costs associated with this action."