- Reports indicate parents fly 2 suspects in Sylvester’s death abroad
BY CHINYERE OBIORA, LAGOS – Controversies surrounding the death of a 12-year-old student of Dowen College, Lekki, Sylvester Oromoni Jnr, heightened on Friday with the Lagos State Government shutting down the school indefinitely pending the outcome of an investigation into the incident.
The government’s action comes on the heels of the deceased family alleging foul play in the school authorities’ claims that their late son got injured playing football.
Lagos Commissioner for Education, Mrs Folasade Adefisayo, announced the indefinite closure after a meeting with the school’s management and staff, saying the government has already instituted a probe into the unfortunate incident.
Mrs Adefisayo, who visited the School with other top officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Education, said in a statement that; “The Lagos State Government has ordered the indefinite closure of Dowen College, Lekki, pending the outcome of an investigation into the death of Sylvester Oromoni Jnr, a student of the school.”
The statement signed by the Assistant Director, Public Affairs, Lagos State Ministry of Education, Mr. Ganiu Lawal, further reads: “Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo, announced the closure after a meeting with the school management and staff.
“The commissioner called for calm, saying no effort will be spared in getting to the root of the incident.”
Also commiserating with Sylvester’s family, an earlier statement the Commissioner said; “Lagos State Government sends its condolences to the parents of 12-year-old Sylvester Oromoni Jnr., a student of Dowen College, Lekki.
“The Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo, notes that this incident is shocking and the state is indeed sad about this great loss. The state government is in touch with the parents in this difficult time.
“We reassure the family of the late Sylvester Oromoni Junior and Lagosians at large that efforts are being made to unravel the circumstances leading to his demise, even as we reiterate the government’s commitment to child protection.”
Accordingly, the Commissioner called for calm, saying no effort would be spared in getting to the root of the incident.
The School Management Speaks
On its part, the School authorities had earlier announced in a newsletter sent through email to parents and guardians that it will be temporarily shutting down for two days, following the death of one of their students, Sylvester.
The memo stated thus:
“Dear Parents, in view of the current situation concerning the school and considering the emotions of our students, we have advised that our students stay home tomorrow (today) Friday 3rd, and Monday 6th.
“This will also afford the students opportunity to revise for their forthcoming examinations starting next week.
“Thank you for your understanding.”
However, it was gathered that the Dowen College’s management has also sent emails to all parents and guardians of their students informing them that the school would not be shutting its learning processes completely, adding that it would be moving online for safety and transparency.
Sylvester’s Family Alleges Foul Play
A report by an online news medium, TheCable, quoted Junior’s father, Sylvester Oromoni as saying that they had initially planned to withdraw him from the school following reported cases of bullying in the past but reconsidered his decision.
According to him; “My son suffered. His birthday is next tomorrow (Dec 4). I’ll celebrate it. I’ll have a cake baked. I’ll cut it on his behalf. The boys they mentioned were also reported to the school the last term when they bullied Junior and collected all his foodstuffs; clothes.
“I have two daughters, one of whom earlier graduated. I had to remove the second after this incident. They asked this boy to describe the sister’s privates and this got to us.”
The Oromonis claimed that Dowen had temporarily suspended the boys involved after their family’s eldest son took up the case, adding that Junior was also switched to a new hostel but the bullying and intimidation persisted into the new term.
“They had put so much fear in him that, when you ask him, he might just keep to himself and say; ‘They will kill me.’ This way, we didn’t know what to do. I considered removing him reconsidered since his sisters were still in the school”, the senior Oromoni lamented in the report.
Nigerians react
As expected, the unfortunate incident has continued to draw reactions from Nigerians with former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, taking to his verified Twitter handle to demand justice for the deceased and his family.
According to the Waziri Adamawa; “We shall be failing in our duties as parents/guardians, administrators, security agencies and government if we do not get to the bottom of the case of late Sylvester Oromoni.
“It is beholden upon us to enthrone a safe environment in our schools. #Justiceforsylvester.”
Also in its reaction, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) on Friday asked the Attorney General, Minister of Education, and the Lagos State’s Attorney General and Education Commission to jointly conduct a transparent investigation on the unexplained death of the 12-year-old student.
Meanwhile, reports making rounds in social media claim that two of the students, whose names were mentioned by Sylvester before his death, have already been flown out of the country by their parents.
