One Year after, Oromoni Calls for Prosecution of His Child’s Killers

Sylvester Idowu in Warri

Father of late Sylvester Oromoni (Jnr), a former student of Dowen College, Lekki, Lagos State who died as a result of bullying, assault, negligence and administration of poisonous substance, Mr. Sylvester Oromoni yesterday lamented failure of the state government to prosecute the  culprits one year after the incident.

According to a statement issued yesterday and titled “Late Sylvester Oromoni Jnr: No Justice Foe The Deceased And Family After One Year”, the father of the deceased recalled how Lagos State Government ordered a coroner inquest to unravel the cause of death of his son on January 21 this year but ‘it is yet to be concluded’.

He further recalled that a Legal Advice earlier issued by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution, Ministry of Justice, Lagos State indicted Dowen College and some of its staff and recommended them for prosecution under Section 252 of the Criminal Law (C17) Vol. 3 Laws of Lagos State 2015 but that those indicted were still working freely while the body of the deceased continued to lie in the morgue.

“With the effort of the Honourable Coroner and the cooperation of several parents particularly the parents of the two witnesses who came from Abuja to testify on the 14th November, 2022, the Coroner thereafter adjourned proceedings to 21st November 2022 for Dowen College to produce the two remaining witnesses from the school.

“However, due to the College’s antics and strategy, the school refused to provide these two witnesses who are currently in Dowen College on the said 21st November, 2022 to enable them to testify before the Coroner. As a result of that, the Inquest was further adjourned to 28th November, 2022. Unfortunately, the Coroner could not also sit on this date because of the unavailability of these vital witnesses from Dowen College.

“At this juncture, let it be known that the Coroner Inquest of the Ikoyi building collapse of 2021 where 52 persons died did not take this protracted time as well the Ojota Yoruba rally where one Miss Jumoke Oyeleke died had since been concluded their Inquest”, he said.

As the father of the deceased, Mr. Oromoni (Snr)  said he would not be tired or discouraged from pursuing justice as promised his late son even if it takes 30 years.

“I cannot be tired or discouraged from pursuing justice as I have promised my son to get him justice even if it will take thirty (30) years to achieve it. Today, the 30th of November 2022 makes it a year since the demise of my son and the body is still in the morgue, yet to be buried. This one-year memorial being held today is to tell Nigerians and the entire world about the current position of the Inquest and the antics of Dowen College”, he said.

While appreciating some civil society organisations and (NGOs) in Abuja and Lagos that equally observed the one-year memorial to mark his one-year untimely demise yesterday, Mr. Oromoni Snr called on the Coroner  to urgently bring the inquest to an end noting that “Nigerians and the entire world are waiting for the dispensation of justice in this case as justice delay is justice denied”.

He equally urged the Lagos State Government to, as a matter of urgency, charge Dowen College and all the staff who had earlier been recommended for prosecution in the DPP advice to court.