Father of Sylvester Oromoni (Jnr.), the late 12-year-old student of Dowen College, has reacted to the release of the suspects linked to the murder of the teenager.
Sylvester was allegedly beaten to death by five senior students of the school on November 30, 2020, for allegedly refusing to join their cult.
But two months after, Lagos State Government cleared five students and five employees of Dowen College accused of complicity in the death of 12-year-old Sylvester.
Hours after the move, the father of the deceased, Mr Sylvester Oromoni, said the news did not come to him as a surprise after the students were granted bail even before the stipulated time granted by the courts for the police to carry out their investigation.
Speaking to Channels Television via a phone interview on Wednesday in Delta State, Oromoni said contrary to the results conducted by Lagos State Government, there was another autopsy carried out by the Delta State Police Command which suggested that his late son may have been fed with harmful chemicals.
The 12-year-old Dowen College student that died on November 30, 2021.
He, however, insisted he will not give up and that his family will meet with his lawyers on the way forward.
“This one is not new to us. I remember the 31 st of December when the Commissioner of Police was making his speech, he mentioned that at the instance of the governor, the Attorney General and the DPP, they have completed their investigation,” he said.
“They discovered that the children, housemasters have no case so he has released them on bail, discharged. He is not the court to decide this matter. What I will tell you is that the family will sit with our lawyers, we will respond appropriately and that time, all of you will be there.
“But on the main time, let me assure you that on December 21, the same Commissioner of Police told me that they were not done with their investigation. They also told me that they are writing to the Attorney General of the state and the Governor to return those boys back.
“Okay look at the holiday. When did they write to the Attorney General to send those boys back to complete their investigation? We did not hear anything like that. At what point did they complete their investigation?
“There was a holiday on Monday, Tuesday and all of that. Don’t worry; we are not bothered, we have heard of this before. This is just the beginning of the case.”
Lagos State Government on Wednesday January 5 had exonerated the five students and five employees of Dowen College linked to Sylvester’s death.
Also cleared by the government from being responsible for Sylvester’s death, a nephew to Delta state deputy governor, Kingsley Otuaro, was the management and school building in Lekki.
The students cleared by the state government were: 16-year-old Favour Benjamin, Edward Begue (16), Ansel Temile (14) and Kenneth Inyang (15) and 15-year-old Micheal Kashamu, the son of late senator, Buruji Kashamu.
Dowen College staff cleared are Celina Uduak, Valentine Igboekweze, Hammed Ayomo Bariyu, Adesanya Olusesan Olusegun and one Adeyemi.
Their clearance was contained in advice by Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) released on Wednesday.
The DPP’s advice said the police probe and the two autopsies conducted on the body of the deceased student failed to establish a prima facie case against the suspects.
Oromoni died last November after efforts to save his life failed. The 12-year-old boy was alleged to have been attacked by five of his senior colleagues for refusing to join a cult.
Oromoni’s father had claimed that his child was beaten and fed a liquid chemical that eventually claimed his life.
But Dowen College had dismissed the claim, saying the boy sustained injuries while playing football with his colleagues.
Lagos State government sealed off the school after Lagos State police commissioner Hakeem Odumosu ordered a probe into the matter.
DPP’s advice, however, disclosed that the interim and final autopsy reports issued by the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and toxicology report of post-mortem samples revealed the cause of death as “Septicaemia, Lobar Pneumonia with Acute Pyelonephritis, Pyomyositis of the right ankle, and Acute Bacteria Pneumonia due to severe Sepsis”.
The DPP noted that there was no proven case of murder, involuntary manslaughter, and or malicious administering of poison with intent to harm [the deceased] against the five accused Dowen College students.
The state cleared the minors of belonging to unlawful society (cultism) due to insufficient facts to establish the claim.
Lagos also cleared the school and five of its employees (Celina Uduak, Valentine Igboekweze, Hammed Ayomo Bariyu, Adesanya Olusesan Olusegun, and one Adeyemi) of the alleged offense of “negligent act causing harm.”
