A Chief Magistrates’ court in Yaba, Lagos, has granted five Dowen College students bail after a conspiracy and homicide charge was made against them by the police. The court granted the students bail to the sum of 1 million Naira each. Oromoni
The minors had been remanded in a juvenile home since December 9, 2021, over the death of their schoolmate, Sylvester Oromoni.
Chief Magistrate Olatunbosun Adeola, who heard the bail application, ordered the defendants to “produce two sureties each”. The magistrate also ordered that one of each of the defendants’ sureties must be their parents, who must swear an affidavit of compliance.
Chief Magistrate Adeola also ordered the defendants to submit their travel passports to the court and their residence be verified by the prosecutor, noting that they must be within 2km of their residence at all times.
Police Releases Oromoni’s Body to Family
The police released Oromoni’s remains to his family for burial after an autopsy was conducted to ascertain the cause of his death.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Adekunle Ajisebutu, explained that the release followed the conclusion of an autopsy on the corpse to ascertain the cause and nature of death.
Sylvester’s body was moved to Lagos on Monday from Delta state for the Autopsy at a public facility in the nation’s commercial hub.
The autopsy was carried out in the presence of five parties: the victim’s parents, parents of the alleged murderers, the school’s representatives, the police investigators while representatives from the Ministry of Health stood in for the Lagos State government.
The body was escorted back to Delta State where he will be laid to rest. The Lagos State Government is keenly interested in the outcome of the investigation to unravel the mystery behind the course of death of the young schoolboy. However, the result of the autopsy is yet to be released while the police investigation continues.
The 12-year-old’s death generated outrage after the reports of his assault in the hands of five of his senior colleagues went viral on social media.
His father, Sylvester Oromoni Snr, alleged that the Junior Secondary School 2 pupil died from the injuries sustained during an assault. However, the school claimed he died from injuries sustained during a game of football within the school premises.
Following this, the Lagos State Government on Friday 3rd December, ordered the indefinite closure of the school, pending the outcome of an investigation into the death of Sylvester.
The Lagos State Police Commissioner, Hakeem Odumosu, ordered the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, to take over the investigation of the case immediately.
Many organizations and activists reacted to this unfortunate story. One of which was the pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere. It described the death of Sylvester as “an ugly sign of how governments in Nigeria have failed the people”.
Afenifere, in a statement by its spokesman, Jare Ajayi, posited that how adolescents die in Nigeria and the increasing banditry among children in schools are “clear indications that the country’s present has not only been jeopardized, its future has also been imperiled”.
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