Opara UgonnaFollowing the exoneration of the five students and five employees of Dowen College, Lekki, Lagos State, the management of Dowen College, have revealed that the long standing integrity and values the school have worked tirelessly to maintain over the past 24 years have been called into question and dragged through the mud because of the death of Sylvester Oromoni.
Recalling the events of the past six weeks with regard to Oromoni’s death, the school said: “On the 30th of November, the Dowen College family was informed we had lost one of our own: Sylvester Oromoni. Sylvester was the fourth of his family to attend Dowen College and this loss came as a shock to the entire school community.
“Unfortunately, before we could grasp and process the reality of losing him, the school was met with a public outburst accusing five of our students of bullying, poisoning and cultism.
“The authorities directed that an autopsy be conducted, and the report reveals that there was no bodily harm, no intoxication, but rather that the young boy suffered and died of pre-existing health conditions that had not been treated. Our longstanding integrity, values, and processes that we have worked tirelessly to maintain over the past 24 years have been called into question and dragged through the mud. Today the truth wins, our faith wins and our integrity wins. We pray that no school or organisation ever has to experience what we have been going through.
“We have maintained in our hearts and minds that compassion must override the instinct to defend ourselves, despite being tried viciously in the court of public opinion and social media. Our focus has been to work with the authorities in uncovering the whole truth regarding this matter and that is where our efforts have been. In the course of submitting ourselves to the investigations of the authorities, we have also kept silent and not assigned any blame to the accused children because we believe we must let the experts do their job and that they remain innocent until proven guilty especially since our own preliminary investigations did not reveal their complicity in any untoward conduct.
“We are a faith-based school with a good academic record and values. Dowen College is a school that thrives on giving back through scholarships. We have over 10 per cent of our students on various scholarships covering 100 per cent full tuition and boarding scholarships. As many students as meet up with merit standard each year enjoy full tuition scholarships. Therefore, rewarding excellence is the focus.
“The results have now been released by the various authorities. The police investigations uncovered nothing to support that Sylvester was bullied or suffered harm. We do not know under what circumstances the accused names were mentioned. We have no response to that. We can only go by what the experts and the authorities have uncovered and reported.
“The autopsy report which is the product of the work of seven of the leading Pathologists in Nigeria, including one representing the Oromoni family from Delta State has shown that Sylvester had several chronic pre-existing health conditions. These health conditions cannot be fabricated or doctored. If there were contributory injuries from any bodily harm they would have been presented and stated.
“We seize this opportunity to publicly thank all our parents, staff, students, alumni and friends of the school for their unflinching partnership, encouragement prayers and advice through this whole situation. You have made us very proud, and we are humbled by your support. Moving forward, the Dowen College family realises from the events of the last few weeks that it cannot take anything for granted. We need to work with our partners and stakeholders to strengthen our policies, processes, and relationships.
“At this point, we respectfully request that all those who have consistently, misguidedly and maliciously pushed false information should cease and desist immediately and allow our dear Sylvester’s soul rest peacefully in our Lord’s arms.”
Addressing a press conference in Lagos, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Odumosu, advised members of the public who are aggrieved over the outcome of investigations into the matter, to seek redress in court.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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