ABUJA: Police Speak On Death Of Pupil On Birthday After Swimming At School
The Federal Capital Territory Police Command has issued a statement amid conflicting reports about the death of a six-year-old school pupil, Modadeoluwa Lawal, in Abuja.
Lawal was said to have died on Wednesday, November 02, 2022, after attending swimming classes at her school — Start Rite International School, Abuja — the same day she celebrated her birthday with other pupils.
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Earlier reports had blamed the pupil’s death on the carelessness of the school’s swimming instructor.
But the FCT Police Command’s spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, in a statement on Friday, said their investigation revealed that the pupil died from “Aspiration Asphyxia”.
WebMD defines ‘Aspiration Asphyxia’ as a situation “when something you swallow “goes down the wrong way” and enters your airway or lungs. It can also happen when something goes back into your throat from your stomach. But your airway isn’t completely blocked, unlike with choking.”
According to Adeh, the pupil didn’t die as a result of drowning contrary to claims by the deceased person’s family.
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The police PRO said, “But this is the fact, the death of Modade Lawal is indeed a pathetic one. However, investigations so far have revealed that She didn’t die by drowning but as a result of food ‘Aspiration asphyxia’.
“On the 2nd of November, She had a swim day as part of the school curriculum and had earlier celebrated her birthday that same day before hitting the pool in the company of other pupils, under the supervision of the Lifeguards, instructors, and teachers. At about 11:45 pm, While being coached, the instructor noticed she wasn’t properly responding as she naturally would, he stopped and brought her out of the 4 -2 feat deep poolside to examine her and noticed she was having difficulties in breathing. The school medical Team was alerted and she was taken to the hospital where she sustained a series of further heart attacks. The Doctor struggled to revive her but she was confirmed dead at about 6:45 pm of the same day.
“While enjoining members of the public to remain calm, it is worthy of note that the deceased has been buried by the family and a discrete Investigation continues. Subsequent development will be communicated.”
Contrary to a police statement, a family member of the deceased pupil with the Twitter handle @Jerr_adele claimed that “the swimming instructor mishandled her and, in the process, killed her”.
The family member further claimed that the school tampered with its closed-circuit television (CCTV) to avoid responsibility for the pupil’s death: “they killed her and deleted the scenes of the CCTV footage and are trying to move on like it never happened!! @startriteschool you killed Modade”
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THE WHISTLER called Start Rite International School for comment but a female representative who picked up the phone declined to comment. She said the school was still mourning and would not want to make any statement on the incident.
