A Lagos State Coroner, Magistrate Mikail Kadiri, who investigated the death of the 12-year-old student of Dowen College, Sylvester Oromoni, has concluded that the deceased died a natural but avoidable death.
Kadiri, who made his findings public yesterday at the Lagos State Magistrate Court in Ogba in a verdict that lasted for over seven hours, held that the death could have been prevented but for the negligence of the parents and the medical team who attended to him.
The coroner held that Oromoni died from sepsis caused by an ankle injury, leading to an infection of the lungs and kidney.
He said evidence and the reports of the two experts who performed an autopsy on the late Oromoni stated that he died of severe septicemia (sepsis) as a result of an infection.
He said, “I do not believe the version of family doctor Henry Aghogho’s evidence.
“Based on the preceding, it is clear that the deceased’s health deteriorated in (doctor) PW 3’s care. PW 3 did not take proper care of the deceased; PW 3 completely abandoned the deceased for more than 32 hours.
“The deceased’s death was an avoidable one, but for the negligence of the parents and PW 3, they didn’t take him to the hospital until the day he died on November 30, 2021.
“The deceased went through an avoidable and excruciating pain and made to suffer needlessly.
“Despite the alleged accusations of the deceased that he was beaten and bullied, it was, however, not proven because all the accused persons denied it.
“All the students involved denied the allegations, while some of them were not in school when the incident occurred as they claimed to be borders who don’t even stay in school during the weekends.
“Therefore, the sister’s evidence could not be relied on because it was based on hearsay from the brother,” he said.
“He went through avoidable excruciating pain and needless suffering until his death. The pupils alleged to have bullied him played no part in the death of the deceased from all the evidence before the court.
In fact Edward and Kenneth should have not been part of this whole case, because they were not even in school when the incident occurred.
Also, no Dowen staff played any role in the deceased’s death, Kadiri stated.
The coroner also cleared the five students of Dowen College, Favour Benjamin, Edward Begue, Ansel Temile, Kenneth Inyang and Micheal Kashamu, named in the incident, as he concluded that they played no part in the death of Sylvester and should not have been involved in the matter.
He also gave some recommendations to forestall further incidents of this sad nature. He advised parents not to take their children’s health with fun.
Kadiri called for better cooperation between the police and medical team and for the police to exercise caution before making arrests in the future.
The coroner also, in his findings, recommended that the management of Dowen College should ensure proper documentation of the entry and exit of students from the hostel and that it should conduct a proper psychological evaluation for the five students suspected of bullying the deceased.
Oromoni died on November 30, 2021, allegedly from bullying and a poisonous substance he was forced to drink in the school.
However, Dowen College denied the accusation, claiming that the deceased had only sustained injuries while playing football with his friends.
In his reaction, Lagos lawyer and counsel to the deceased’s parents, Mr Femi Falana, accused the coroner of ignoring the evidence of the government pathologist who testified that the “black substance” found in the stomach of the deceased was not subjected to toxicological examination.
He said the allegation against the suspects was that the deceased was forced to drink a poisonous substance.
Falana stated, “The doctors who testified stated that the deceased died of sepsis and that the sepsis could have been caused by excessive massaging of the leg of the deceased.
“The coroner conveniently overlooked the fact that the school doctor and the nurses massaged the leg of the deceased for two days before inviting his parents to take him home.
“In an attempt to exonerate Dowen College, the coroner was silent on the overwhelming evidence of the bullying of the deceased, his sister, and other students by the same set of students. In particular, the coroner discountenanced the proof of a student who had testified that he saw the deceased beaten up and subjected to torture by a group of senior students.
“Despite such uncontradicted evidence, the coroner said that the deceased died of natural cause. The coroner claimed that the negligence of the family doctor led to the death of the deceased but failed to refer him to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria for appropriate sanctions,” Falana said.