A policeman identified as Bamidele Olusegun (CSP) says Dowen
College was initially indicted in the first legal advice issued by the Lagos
state directorate of public prosecutions (DPP) on the death of Sylvester
Oromoni Jnr.
According to NAN, Olusegun, who is serving with the homicide
section of the Lagos State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department
(SCIID), Panti, Yaba, testified on Monday before an Ikeja coroner’s court.
While under cross-examination by Femi Falana (SAN), counsel
to the Oromoni family, the police officer said he got interim legal advice from
the DPP dated December 30, 2021.
He said the advice had recommended that the school and its
staff should be prosecuted for alleged negligence.
Falana showed the witness a copy of the interim report and
requested that he should read the last paragraph of the document.
Reading it aloud, he said: “There are sufficient facts to
establish this offence against Mrs. Celina Uduak, Valentine Igboekweze, Hammed
Ayomo Bariyu, Adesanya Olusegun, and Mr. Adeyemi and Dowen College.”
The witness also said he received another legal advice dated
January 4, which had exonerated Dowen College of involvement in Oromoni’s
death.
The witness said he conducted a thorough investigation and
was aware that the police had protested that they were not allowed to conclude
their investigations on the case due to the issuance of the January 4 DPP
advice.
Olusegun identified a copy of the protest letter written to
the chief judge of Lagos state by the police shown to him by Falana.
A portion of the letter, read aloud by the witness in the
court, stated that: “It came as a rude shock that the investigation was not
allowed to be carried out.”
He also said the suspects were not brought back to the
police station for the conclusion of the investigation.
“During the
investigation, one of the suspects informed me that the deceased was bullied.
Another one also told me that he was taken to the third floor to be tortured,”
he said.
When asked if any of the suspects had informed him that the
deceased was injured on November 14, 2021, Olusegun said he did not have any
recollection.
The policeman told the inquest that the sister of the
deceased told him that her late brother was also bullied sometime in October
2021 and that the boy who allegedly bullied him was not punished for the act.
“She also confirmed to me that they bullied her brother
because they wanted him to described her private parts. I wouldn’t know the
deceased was taken to the sickbay in October when he was bullied,” he said.
Olusegun confirmed during the cross-examination that a
female parent had also reported that her son was bullied by some Dowen College
students at the Maroko police station.
Witness: How I
investigated Sylvester Oromoni’s death
Earlier, the witness narrated to the coroner’s court how he
investigated the case.
“On December 3, 2021, a petition forwarded to my office was
assigned to me,” he said.
“Dowen College was already closed down then. On December 6,
we were at Maroko Police Station, where we met the school principal and the
suspects.
“We took them down to Panti and obtained statements from the
accused and the other management staff.
“We then proceeded to a Yaba Magistrates’ Court to get a
Remand Order. The House Masters were detained with us while the children were
remanded at the Oregun Correctional Home.”
Olusegun said the statement of Sylvester Oromoni Snr, the
father of the deceased, was taken on December 9, 2021.
He said the Lagos state attorney-general and the state
commissioner for education were put on the phone when the parties were
interrogated.
“I recollect that I went to Warri to bring the corpse to
Lagos and I had an interaction with the doctor and the Consultant
Pathologists,” he said.
“We arrived in Lagos on Jan.13 with the corpse while the
autopsy was performed the next day but before then, letters were dispatched to
the parties asking them to be in attendance or send representatives during the
autopsy.
“I later proceeded to Abuja to speak with one of the
witnesses. I also recollect that we visited the school on a fact-finding
mission and it was opened to us.
“I remember that the doctor at the school hospital; Dr. Moji
confirmed that she attended to the deceased between November 21 and 22 2021.
“She confirmed to me that she asked the nurse to massage the
deceased’s legs and that paracetamol was also administered on him.”
When asked if the school had CCTV cameras, he said:
“Absolutely no, there were no CCTV cameras in the school.”
Babajide Martins, director of the Lagos state DPP, and
Anthony Kpokpo, counsel to Dowen College, informed the inquest that they were
not previously served copies of the legal advice with which Falana had
cross-examined the witness.
“It has become a part of the deceased family to present
documents that have not been front-loaded,” Kpokpo said.
“We will not be able to continue with the cross-examination
as a result of the surprises being pulled on us. This is regrettable.”
Oromoni died on November 30, 2021, from injuries alleged to
have been sustained in an attack by five senior students of Dowen College who
the family had claimed bullied the 12-year-old for refusing to join a cult.
His father had claimed he was attacked and fed a liquid
chemical but the school countered the claim and alleged that the boy sustained
injuries while playing football.
The Lagos state DPP’s advice released on January 4 also
disputed the allegation, stating that an autopsy had revealed the cause of
Oromoni’s death as acute bacterial pneumonia due to severe sepsis.
Mikhail Kadiri, the coroner, adjourned proceedings until February
22 for the continuation of cross-examination
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