The management of Chrisland Schools has insisted that exhuming the late Whitney Adeniran's remains was never in the school's plans after a proven autopsy report conducted by Lagos State University Teaching Hospital confirmed the cause of her death as asphyxia and electrocution.
Prime9jaOnline previously reported that the state Ministry of Justice raised the alarm that it opposed a request for the exhumation of the late 12-year-old student's remains.
Reacting, Chrisland in a Press Statement titled, 'Chrisland has no plans to exhume Whitney's body, reiterates regret over loss' and made available to The PUNCH on Sunday, refuted the exhumation claim, adding, "We hereby vehemently refute the claim making the rounds that Chrisland School intends to exhume Whitney's body.
“We have no such plan and assure the public that we are also parents in mourning and will not do or subscribe to anything that paints such insensitive optics that prevents our dear daughter from resting.
“We assure you all that no such thing will happen. Rather than do this, plans are underway to immortalise Whitney’s name so she can remain indelible in our consciousness. This is without prejudice to the ongoing Corona inquest but it is an honour we owe her.”
The statement further read, “The Management of Chrisland School is aware of the developments around the autopsy report on the unfortunate death of one of her students, Whitney Adeniran.
“We are once again by this statement, expressing our deepest regret. We are deeply saddened and sorry about Whitney’s death.
“We are remorseful and sorry to Whitney’s parents. We are sorry to our parents and the entire community that hosts our school. We are also very sorry to the nation at large. It was a huge loss to the school.
“We express an equal measure of apology to the Nigeria Media, another critical stakeholder, in case we have sent unbearably quiet signals. We have been quiet because this was death so shocking, we opted more for introspection and moral rectitude rather than strutting around the Media space to seize narratives.
“Moreso, we considered it imperative to allow the parents and indeed the entire Adeniran family the honour of their privacy as we all mourn this unfortunate loss. Whitney Adeniran was a bright and lovely student. She was popular and friendly. Her memory lives with us.
The Lagos-based school added it is not pre-empting the investigation as its management understood and appreciated the outpouring of emotions from this unfortunate incident.
“We have adopted the caution of quiet sobriety and have refrained from responding to every issue on social media because of our conviction that Whitney’s memory is better served with moral rectitude and a sober introspection.
“Nonetheless, Chrisland Schools will continue to cooperate with the authorities throughout the duration of the investigations, and also offer the parents every necessary support in this grieving period,” the statement added.
The management further appreciated those who have genuinely stood by the school and the Adenirans.