When John Ogbodo’s two-year-old daughter left for school at Smiley Kids Montessori, Sangotedo, Lagos State, on Wednesday morning, he and his wife never imagined that would be the last time they would see her alive.
FIJ learnt that the school called the parents around 4:36 pm on Wednesday to notify them of their daughter’s demise by drowning.
However, the parents suspect a possible cover-up regarding their child’s actual cause of death. They believe their daughter may have died from electrocution rather than drowning as claimed by the school.
Ogbodo told FIJ on Friday morning that he wants the school to tell him the truth about what killed his daughter. He also wants justice to be served.

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The child’s father disclosed that the school’s swimming pool where his daughter allegedly drowned had not been in use for five years. Also, it was gated, fenced and locked.
“When they called, they said that they were in the hospital with my daughter and that she drowned in school. When my wife went there, she saw the lifeless body of our daughter. They didn’t let my wife know immediately the thing happened,” he told FIJ.
“My wife is a certified Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) expert and medical doctor. And where we live is about 500 metres from the school. They only called her after she [our daughter] had passed away in the hospital.

“I just want them to tell me exactly what killed my daughter. Let them tell me the truth about how she passed.
“It’s a possibility that she died through electrocution and they are trying to use the drowning to cover up. Maybe in their own mind, they feel that is a more plausible excuse than electrocution.”
According to Ogbodo, there was an empty socket near a dispenser accessible to the pupils.
He said the teachers must have left the children unattended.
“My daughter likes to explore. Maybe she touched it [the socket] and got electrocuted, and they now tried to dip her inside water and claim that it’s drowning,” Ogbodo said.
“Besides, the swimming pool in the school has not been used for five years, and the gate is locked. It has a gate and fence and key. It’s padlocked, so how did the child get there? That’s the truth we are looking for.”



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Ogbodo also revealed that the deceased toddler was his first child.
“We gave birth to her younger sibling about two months ago,” he said.
“The police have arrested the proprietor and about five other staff members in the school,” he informed FIJ on Thursday.
Ogbodo said the arrested persons were taken to Ogonbo police station around the Sangotedo area, but the case would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti, on Friday morning.
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FIJ learnt from another family member, who posted about the incident on X, that the school said the cameras were not operational when the parents asked for the CCTV footage.
“She left for school all well on Wednesday. Then later in the afternoon, we got a call that she died in the pool. On getting there, we found out the water dispenser was electrically exposed and no way she would have drowned. They took her into the pool after finding out she was dead from the electrocution so it would seem like she drowned. We asked for CCTV footage. They said the cameras were not working. An expensive school that charges a lot,” the poster told FIJ.
When FIJ called Benjamin Hundeyin, the spokesperson for Lagos State Police Command, on Friday morning, he terminated the call and asked that a text be sent.
At the time of publication, the police spokesperson has yet to respond to FIJ’s text and WhatsApp messages.
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