On Monday, the coroner investigating into the circumstances surrounding the death of Sylvester Oromoni, a 12-year-old Dowen College, Lekki student, heard the testimony of the deceased’s mother, Mrs Rosemary Oromoni.
Mrs. Oromoni, who came in court obviously shaken, cursed her son’s killers and broke down several times while presenting her testimony.
She began her evidence by stating that she received word from the school that her son had been hurt while playing football with some of his classmates.
She stated that when the family picked up the child from school in Lagos, he was transferred to their house in Warri, Delta State, when his health did not improve.
She stated that when he was sent home from school, she noticed that his lips were scaly and he had a swollen hip.
He was subsequently treated for malaria for three days at home but the boy was still in pain, according to her.
She also testified that her son eventually confessed to her that he was beaten up by five other students but gave her the names of three of them. The lady said her son told her that the students gave him a substance to drink.
Following his persistent poor health, the family doctor had asked the family to take him to the laboratory for a scan and X-ray but she said she could not recall the result because at that moment she was heartbroken.
She said that on the 30 of November 2021 when her son died, his condition had worsened and as such he was rushed to the family’s hospital, but she was not allowed to accompany him.
The late Oromoni Jnr reportedly died on November 30, 2021, at a private hospital in Warri, Delta State following health complications that allegedly occurred at his school, Dowen College, Lagos.
Following his death, the Lagos State Government shut the school and a coroner’s inquest to investigate the circumstances of his death began in January 2022.
The Coroner, Magistrate Mikail Kadiri, has asked parties in the inquest to file their final written addresses which will be adopted on November 20, 2023.
