The last has not been heard of the tragic death of 12-Year Old Sylvester Oromoni as his family has accused Mikhail Kadiri, the coroner, of suppressing evidence to exonerate Dowen College of complicity in the death of their son.
The Matrix reports that in a news that shocked the whole country, Sylvester Oromoni died in controversial circumstances at age 12 on November 30, 2021, while still a student at Dowen College in Lekki, Lagos.
The boy’s parents alleged that he was bullied, beaten up, and fed a chemical substance by five of his male colleagues.
Dowen College dismissed the claim, insisting that the late student sustained injuries while playing football with friends.
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The case went to court for two years and Kadiri adjudged that Dowen College, its students, and officials were faultless in the death of Oromoni.
The coroner affirmed that Oromoni died of sepsis emanating from an infection of the lungs and kidney caused by an ankle injury.
Kadiri attributed Oromoni’s death to parental and medical negligence contrary to the claim of bullying or chemical poisoning.
Femi Falana, counsel to the Oromoni family, said the coroner overlooked some “uncontradicted evidence” while giving his verdict.
The family, in a reaction addressing the Lagos state government, accused Kadiri of suppressing evidence in what they termed a “cover-up”.
They also accused the coroner of shedding crocodile tears not less than seven times in open court while reading the 325-page verdict.
“At the preliminary stage of the inquest, my team of lawyers led by Mr. Femi Falana SAN requested a visit to Dowen College to enable the Coroner to ascertain the state of the school before the death of my son. To my utter surprise, the Coroner rejected the application. It turned out later that the Coroner wanted enough time for the management of Dowen College to fix up the physical deficiencies in the school.
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The visit to Dowen College was eventually carried out by the Coroner and the parties on the 1st day of April 2023, 17 months after the death of my son. In his desperate bid to exonerate Dowen College of any liability, the Coroner turned around in his verdict to applaud the authorities of the school for upgrading the facilities during the proceedings!
To further exonerate the management of Dowen College of any liability the Coroner engaged in the suppression of material facts of bullying of my son by a clique of students.
Then the coroner proceeded to blame the cause of death of my son on “parental negligence”. It is on record that no witness indicted me as I took all steps recommended by the family doctor to save the life of my son as no good father will want his son dead.
In rejecting the wicked and heartless conclusion of the Coroner, I have decided to review the evidence that was conveniently suppressed by the Coroner” the statement partly read.
