Heavy security at Dowen College as Lagos Govt allegedly moves to reopen school

Amid the speculations that the Lagos State Government is planning to reopen Dowen College, security operatives have been stationed at the school in Lekki.

According to Vanguard, armed policemen with Armoured Personnel Carriers were seen watching over the school and its hostels which are opposite the school’s main building.

The Government of Lagos State had in December shut the school following the controversial death of a 12-year-old student identified as Sylvester Oromoni Jnr.

The state’s Commissioner for Education, Folasade Adefisayo, had said that the school would remain closed pending the outcome of investigations.

But in January, the Lagos State Ministry of Education gave the management of the school conditions to be met for the reopening of the school.

In a statement signed by the ministry’s Assistant Director, Public Affairs, Ganiyu Lawal, the ministry directed the school management to fix administrative lapses, and review boarding school guidelines.

However, on Sunday, February 6, 2022, some Niger Delta youths staged a protest against the reopening of the school.

The youths in branded solidarity shirts, gathered at the gate of the school to demand its continued closure.

Meanwhile, the state government had cleared five students accused of killing the 12-year-old student.

The government acted on the autopsy report that stated that Oromoni did not die from drinking a chemical substance force-fed by his peers as claimed by the parents of the deceased.