BREAKING: ONDO COURT ORDERS STATE GOVERNMENT TO PAY N25 MILLION OVER MISSING CHILD IN JUVENILE HOME

ONDO COURT ORDERS STATE GOVERNMENT TO PAY N25 MILLION OVER MISSING CHILD IN JUVENILE HOME


An Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure has ordered the Ondo State Government to pay a total sum of N25 million in damages to a woman, Mrs Opeyemi Adegboyega, following the disappearance of her infant child from a state-owned juvenile home.

The judgment, delivered by Justice Oluyemi Osadebay, held that the state government and relevant officials failed in their duty of care after the child went missing while under government custody.

According to court documents, Mrs Adegboyega had temporarily handed over custody of her three-month-old son to the Ondo State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development while receiving treatment for mental health-related challenges at the Ondo State Neuropsychiatric Hospital.

The arrangement was made to allow her focus on treatment as an outpatient while the child was placed in a state-run juvenile home supervised by the ministry.

After spending about one month receiving treatment, the mother returned to reclaim her baby but was reportedly informed by officials that the child had died and that the remains had been deposited at a hospital mortuary.

However, findings later revealed that officials at the State Specialist Hospital had no record of any child’s body being deposited at the mortuary by the ministry, raising serious concerns about the actual whereabouts of the infant.

Unsatisfied with the explanation given by government officials, Mrs Adegboyega, through her lawyer Oju Kekemeke, filed a suit against the Ondo State Government and the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, demanding accountability over the disappearance of the child.

In its ruling, the court stated that evidence presented by the defendants lacked credibility, describing it as “unbelievable, unconscionable, unsubstantiated, untrue and untenable.”

Justice Osadebay ruled that the disappearance of the child, identified as Omoniyi Oluwaseun, resulted from negligence on the part of the state government and the ministry responsible for the juvenile facility.

The court further held that the claimant suffered severe emotional pain, psychological trauma, personal loss, and prolonged anguish as a direct consequence of the incident.

As part of the judgment, the court awarded N10 million as exemplary and aggravated damages, N15 million as general damages for the emotional and psychological suffering endured by the mother, and an additional N200,000 as legal costs.

The ruling is expected to raise renewed concerns about child welfare management and accountability standards within government-operated social care institutions in Ondo State.

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