Tobias Sylvester
A Chief Magistrate Court in Lagos has remanded in custody three students and three staff of Dowen College in Lekki over assault and death of 12-year-old pupil, Sylvester Oromoni Junior.
KanyiDaily recalls that Sylvester Oromoni was alleged to have been bullied, beaten, and fed with a chemical by five senior students over his refusal to join their cult group, which resulted in his death.
The Lagos State Police Command had approached the court seeking to keep the suspects in custody for 30 days pending the outcome of its investigation on the tragic incident.
However, during the arraignment of the suspects on Wednesday, December 9, Magistrate A.O. Olatunbosu granted the police 25 days and ordered that the underage suspects be kept at the juvenile remand centre.
The court further directed that three staff be remanded in police custody and that the case file be duplicated and sent to the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice.
There has been public outcry after 12-year-old Omoroni reportedly died from the injuries sustained during an alleged assault by five of his colleagues who wanted to initiate him into cultism.
Police had on Tuesday said five students of Dowen College, as well as three housemasters of the school were already in their custody over alleged involvement in the death of their colleague.
The state commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, who disclosed this in a statement, said three students of the college were currently assisting the police in their investigation.
According to the police, four of the students were allegedly mentioned by the parents of the victim to be directly involved in the crime while another student is assisting police investigations.
“The students whose names were mentioned are in police custody and investigation is on. Equally too, I have gotten in touch with my colleague in Delta State,” Odumosu said.
He said nobody is above the law, adding that the police would carry out its work in line with the juvenile laws.
The police authorities had so far refused to make public the names of the suspects in its custody over the incident.
Meanwhile, Dowen College parents have demanded the sack of the school’s management team and hostel teachers over the way they handled the death of Sylvester Oromoni Junior.
