Court has admitted Sylvester Oromoni family’s interviews as evidence.
Gatekeepers News reports that the coroner’s inquiry into the death of Sylvester, the deceased student of Dowen College Lagos, has admitted in evidence press interviews granted by his father.
The death of the 12-year-old last November generated several reactions as it was alleged that Sylvester was been beaten by five senior colleagues for refusing to join a cult.
His father had also claimed his son was attacked and fed a liquid chemical that eventually led to his death.
However, Dowen College, dismissed the claim, alleging that the boy sustained injuries while playing football.
Two autopsies have been carried out on Oromoni, one by the Delta Police Command and the second by the Lagos Police command.
The first autopsy by Delta Police revealed that Oromoni died of “acute lung injury due to chemical intoxication,” while the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP), after the second autopsy, said instead that Oromoni died naturally.
A coroner’s inquiry on the matter that adjourned from February 8 continued on Monday at the high court in Ikeja.
During the February 7 sitting, Gatekeepers News reported that the Oromoni family submitted for admission as evidence a box belonging to the deceased that was said to have been damaged during the alleged fatal attack that allegedly claimed the boy’s life.
They also presented a flash drive containing two audio files and videos capturing the deceased before his death.
In one of the audios, one of late Oromoni’s fellow students claimed the deceased was attacked by three to five students.
According to the family, the student claimed that he reported the matter to Dowen College’s Vice-Principal and was asked to write a statement to that effect.
To counter the claims made in the files, counsel to one of the accused Dowen College students, Godwin Omoaka, called the court’s attention to a disc containing four media interviews granted by the father of the deceased.
The disc, which contained four press interviews granted to Arise TV (2), BBC Pidgin (1), and Punch Newspaper (1), was played before the court and admitted as evidence in the case.
The deceased’s father was further questioned on matters previously addressed by other witnesses based on the interviews tendered.
Magistrate Mikhail Kadiri adjourned to February 15 (today) for the continuation of the hearing.
