Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has vowed to work with the Lagos State Government and other relevant authorities to unravel the cause of death of a 12-year-old pupil of Dowen College, Lagos State, who died in a mysterious circumstance on Tuesday.
Sylvester Oromoni Jnr, a Delta State citizen, allegedly died from injuries he sustained after his schoolmates attacked him for snubbing pleas to join their cult group.
He was allegedly pounced upon on November 26 on the school premises.
He would have been 12 on December 4 (today).
Dowen is one of the boarding schools in the Lagos highbrow Lekki area.
But the circumstance leading to his sudden ill-health and death has since been shrouded in mystery and a subject of controversy.
While the school claims he sustained injuries while playing football with his schoolmates, his family says his fellow senior students, who are cultists, are responsible for his death.
The school presented its claim in a statement. The boy’s family published a video that has been widely circulated on social media. The video reveals the late boy’s last moments.
He groaned at a facility where he appeared to receive treatment, and his relations rained curses on people who allegedly attacked him.
Similarly, a man who claimed to be the deceased’s cousin, Perrison Oromoni, took to Twitter, a microblogging platform, to decry what befell his relation in the school.
Using his handle @Perrisonoromoni, he detailed how the boy was allegedly beaten on November 26 on the school premises before dying last Tuesday.
Oromoni claimed that tests conducted on the late pupil revealed he sustained internal injuries from the pains inflicted on him by his attackers.
Similarly, the boy’s father, Sylvester Oromoni Sr, has in interviews with the media said he had petitioned the Nigerian police over the incident. He called for justice for his son.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government has responded by shutting the school.
A statement by the state government on Friday ordered the indefinite closure of the institution pending the outcome of an investigation into the boy’s death.
The State Commissioner for Education Folasade Adefisayo gave the order after a meeting with the school management and staff.
Adefisayo called for calm among the stakeholders, stressing that the government would spare no effort to get to the root of the crisis.
Reacting Saturday morning, Governor Okowa said he spoke with the deceased father Friday night.
In a statement published on his Facebook page, he said he agreed with the decision of the Lagos State government to launch an investigation into the boy’s death.
Okowa said it was unfortunate the boy died ‘under very controversial and unclear circumstances.’
According to him, during the telephone call he had with the boy’s father, he resolved the matter must be investigated and the perpetrators must be apprehended, punished, and made an example of, to serve as a deterrent against future occurrences.
He said his government placed priority on the lives of the state’s people wherever they lived.
“As we continue to watch this case closely, we extend our prayers and support to the Oromoni family. As they mourn the loss of their young son, I pray that Almighty God gives them the strength that they need at this difficult time,” he stated
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2022. Contact him via email @ [email protected].