An Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure has awarded N25 million in damages to a woman, Mrs Opeyemi Adegboyega, following the disappearance of her infant son while under the care of a state-owned juvenile home.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay, the court held the Ondo State Government and the state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development liable for negligence, ruling that their actions led to the disappearance of the child, Omoniyi Oluwaseun.
The court further ordered the defendants to compensate the claimant for the emotional and psychological suffering she endured as a result of the incident.
According to court records, Adegboyega had placed her three-month-old son in the custody of the Ondo State Juvenile Home in Akure, a facility 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.
However, after spending about a month in treatment and subsequently being discharged, she returned to reclaim her child only to be informed by officials that the baby had died and that the remains had been deposited at the morgue of the State Specialist Hospital.
Unsatisfied with the explanation, Adegboyega visited the hospital to verify the claim.
She was reportedly informed by hospital authorities that no child’s corpse had been brought to the mortuary by officials of the ministry.
The conflicting accounts prompted the claimant, through her lawyer, Mr Oju Kekemeke, to institute legal proceedings against the Ondo State Government and the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.
In the judgment, a copy of which was made available to journalists on Tuesday, Justice Osadebay strongly criticised the evidence presented by the defendants, describing it as “unbelievable, unconscionable, unsubstantiated, untrue and untenable”.
The court held that the claimant had suffered severe emotional distress due to the disappearance of her son while in state custody.
Justice Osadebay noted that Adegboyega experienced “excruciating pain, anguish, personal loss and psychological trauma” arising from the incident and the defendants’ failure to provide a credible account of the child’s whereabouts.
Consequently, the court awarded N10 million as exemplary and aggravated damages against the defendants.
An additional N15 million was awarded as general damages to compensate for the pain, anguish, personal loss, psychological trauma and prolonged shock suffered by the claimant.
The court also ordered the defendants to pay N200,000 as the cost of the suit.
The ruling represents a significant judgment on the duty of care owed by government institutions entrusted with the welfare and protection of vulnerable children.
