The inquest in Lagos to unravel the circumstances surrounding the death of late Sylvester Oromoni took a twist today as the father of the deceased, Mr. Sylvester Oromoni admitted to the court that he did not see any signs of a beating on his son after he was taken from school.
Oromoni Senior also asserted that he did not call anybody to massage the deceased leg but just to examine the leg, waist and back; contrary to the evidence of Peter Odeworitse, the second witness, who had told the the court that the deceased was massaged when he was brought from Lagos to Warri.
He became emotional, as the video clip of the deceased in agony on his bed was played to clarify the allegation that the deceased was beaten. He told court that he was not there when the deceased told Peter Odeworitse that he was beaten.
He was speaking at Lagos Coroner Court sitting in Ikeja during his continued cross examination as a witness, where he also alleged that there was a massive cover-up over the death of his son, the late JSS 2 student of Dowen College, Lagos.
Oromoni Senior disclosed this under cross examination by the Director in the Ministry of Justice, Mr. Akin George who asked the deceased father to clarify why he alleged a cover up in the video clips of interviews he granted the media.
The witness responded that the police had told him the investigation had not been concluded before the suspected five students were released. In his explanation before Coroner Magistrate Mikhail Kadri in the ongoing inquest, the witness said it was clearly stated in the police report.
He said, “It is clearly stated in the police report that a Magistrates' Court in Yaba requested for 21-days and after 14-days, the boys were granted bail when the police were not done with their investigations.”
"When I saw the Commissioner of Police (Hakeem Odumosu), he told me that that it was not true that the police were done with their investigation.” He went on to say that on the day they said they had released the boys, the courts were not sitting.
Mr. Oromoni further stated that “I then called the Deputy Commissioner of Police, he told me the same thing and told me to give him some time. After about two to four minutes he called me back and he confirmed it, that they were given 21-days for their investigations and the boys had just spent 14-days in detention.”
"They (police) said they were going to write a protest letter. They were already interrogating two of the students so they were taken by surprise. The same Commissioner of Police, after some days now publicly said that at the instance of Mr. Governor, the Attorney-General and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, they said there was nothing wrong with the boys therefore they've released them.”
Related Articles
When he was cross examined by the school lawyer, Mr. Anthony Kpokpo, Oromoni Senior contradicted the evidence earlier given by Dr. Henry Aghogho, the family doctor.
For instance, the doctor had earlier told the Coroner that he discovered on 26th November 2021 that the deceased had an enlarged liver and he told the parents, but Oromoni Senior emphatically denied this saying the doctor is wrong. He also denied contrary to the evidence of the doctor that the doctor did not meet with him on 30th November 2021 at his Warri home to give him a referral note. He said he never saw the doctor on the morning of 30th November 2021 at his home. This put a lie to several of the doctor's evidence.
He further testified that November 2021 was the first time he had been called to pick up his son for medical attention from school.
Mr Sylvester Oromoni Snr. further said that viral videos showing his late son, Sylvester Oromoni Jnr., in a critical health condition, were meant for church testimony.
“Those videos were made to give testimony in church.
“If God had made him survive, we would have used them to give thanksgiving and testimonies of what the boy went through,” he said.
The witness said that the late student was taken to the family church, God’s Grace Ministry International, Warri, Delta, on Nov. 29, 2021, for a one-hour deliverance session.
Upon notification by Mr. Godwin Omoaka, SAN of certain false reportage of the proceedings, Magistrate Kadri expressed his displeasure at the way some news media had been publishing false stories of the proceedings, especially on social media. He charged the media to report responsibly, noting that all the reports on social media were distractions which would however not stop him from ensuring due diligence in seeing the inquest to it's logical conclusion.
He went on to list some witnesses to be summoned which include: the deceased's roommates, Prof. John Obafunwa, Dr. Amos Fabanwo, the school nurse, the school mates who played football with the deceased when he was injured, the Investigation Police officer (Warri) and Dr. Clement Vhriterhire, the pathologist in Warri, among others.
The inquest continues on Monday, 21st February 2022.
