Ondo govt ordered to pay N25m over missing child in orphanage
An Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure has ordered the Ondo State Government and the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development to pay N25 million in damages to Mrs Opeyemi Adegboyega following the disappearance of her son while in the custody of a state-run juvenile home.
The court held that the disappearance of the child, Omoniyi Oluwaseun, from the Ondo State Juvenile Home in Akure resulted from the negligent conduct of the defendants.
According to court records, Adegboyega entrusted her three-month-old son to the care of the juvenile home, which is supervised by the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, while she received treatment for depression and schizophrenia at the Ondo State Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital.
After spending about a month undergoing treatment, she was discharged and returned to the facility to reclaim her child. However, officials informed her that the baby had died and that the body had been deposited at the morgue of the State Specialist Hospital.
Unsatisfied with the explanation, the claimant visited the hospital to verify the claim but was allegedly informed that no child’s corpse had been deposited at the morgue by officials of the ministry.
Following the discovery, Adegboyega, through her counsel, Mr Oju Kekemeke, instituted legal action against the Ondo State Government and the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.
In the judgment delivered by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay, a copy of which was made available to journalists on Tuesday, the court described the evidence presented by the defendants as “unbelievable, unconscionable, unsubstantiated, untrue and untenable.”
The court ruled that the claimant suffered “excruciating pain, anguish, personal loss and psychological trauma” as a result of her son’s disappearance from the state facility.
Justice Osadebay awarded N10 million as exemplary and aggravated damages and N15 million as general damages for the pain, anguish, personal loss, psychological trauma and persistent shock suffered by the claimant due to the negligence of the defendants.
The court also awarded N200,000 as the cost of the action.
The judgment underscores the responsibility of government institutions to ensure the safety and welfare of individuals placed under their care and custody.o pay N25m over missing child in orphanage
