THE Coroner Inquest sitting in Ogba Magistrate Court, Lagos State, to examine the death of a 12-year-old student of Dowen College, Lekki area of the state, Sylvester Oromoni, has absolved the five students of the school implicated in the incident.
The inquiry, while determining that the students played no role in Oromoni’s demise and should not have been implicated in the case, attributed his death to his parents and doctor’s negligence.
The Coroner Magistrate, Mikhail Kadiri, in a judgment, stated that Oromoni’s death was avoidable and was a result of failed treatment for his enlarged liver.
Kadiri further urged for enhanced collaboration between the police and medical professionals, emphasising the importance of police discretion before making arrests in subsequent cases.
In his judgement, the Coroner also recommended that the management of Dowen College should ensure thorough documentation of students’ entry and exit from the hostel, along with conducting comprehensive psychological evaluations for the five students accused of bullying the deceased.
The latest development came about 15 months after the Lagos State government cleared the five students and staff of Dowen College linked to the death of Oromoni.
The clearance was contained in legal advice of the Director of Public Prosecution, Adetutu Oshinusi addressed to the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department and the trial magistrate, Olatunbosun Adeola.
According to the advice, the interim and final autopsy reports issued by the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital and the toxicology report of post-samples and that of the Central Hospital, Warri, were in agreement as to the cause of death, namely septicaemia, lobar pneumonia with acute pyelonephritis, pyomyositis of the right ankle and acute bacteria pneumonia due to severe sepsis.
The toxicology result is also not indicative of any toxic or poisonous substance in the deceased’s body, it added.
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The DPP’s legal advice concluded that based on these findings, there was ‘no prima facie case of murder, involuntary manslaughter and or malicious administering of poison with intent to harm against the five students.’
The students cleared by the state government are: Favour Benjamin (16), Edward Begue (16), Ansel Temile (14) and Kenneth Inyang (15) and 15-year-old Micheal Kashamu, the son of the late Senator Buruji Kashamu.
The government cleared the following school officials through the director of public prosecution: Adesanya Olusesan Olusegun, Hammed Ayomo Bariyu, Celina Uduak, Valentine Igboekweze, and Adeyemi.
Oromoni’s death
On November 30, 2021, Sylvester died following an alleged attack by ‘some of his senior colleagues’ for refusing to join a cult group.
Oromoni allegedly mentioned five senior students of Dowen College as responsible for the injuries he sustained when he was attacked at the college.
He was also reported to have sustained internal injuries that led to his death on November 30, 2021.
The death of Oromoni sparked various reactions from celebrities, civil society organisations and Nigerians alike.
Oromoni’s family alleged he was bullied and beaten by fellow students, and the injuries sustained from the beating led to his death.
The Lagos State Government had ordered Dowen College’s indefinite closure pending the outcome of an investigation into the case.
However, the school has denied all allegations, stating that Oromoni was neither bullied nor beaten but only complained of hip pain after playing football.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M