Lagos govt clears 5 Dowen students accused of killing Sylvester Oromoni

The Lagos state government has cleared the five Dowen College students accused of having a hand in the death of 12-year-old Sylvester Oromoni (Jnr).

Oromoni died on November 30, 2021, after struggling with injuries originally reported by the school as sustained while playing football.

Oromoni's family has since claimed that the boy told them before his death that he was assaulted and bullied by fellow students who wanted him to join their cult group.

His father maintains that his son was fed a chemical substance by fellow students after being repeatedly bullied.

The Lagos state government has also cleared five employees of the school of any wrongdoing.

The decision of the Lagos state government is contained in a legal advice signed by Adetutu Osinusi, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) on Wednesday, January 5, 2022.

The DPP’s office stated that 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.

It added 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 report also states that there was no prima facie case of murder, involuntary manslaughter, and or malicious administering of poison with intent to harm.

The state cleared the minors of belonging to unlawful society (cultism) due to insufficient facts to establish the claim.

The government 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."

The state government has directed that all the suspects still in custody be released.