The father of the late 12-year-old student of Dowen College, Sylvester Oromoni, has stated that his son was bullied and fed with a chemical substance by his fellow students.
www.tracknews.ng reports an uncle to the deceased, Perry Oromoni, took to Twitter to claim that his cousin was killed after he rejected attempts by some students in the school to initiate him into a cult group.
He stated his cousin mentioned five names responsible for his injuries before his death, confessing that they tried blending him into a cult.
“This is my 12 years old cousin that was beaten to death at a school that cost over 1 million naira.
Reacting to the allegation, the school management dismissed the claims that Oromoni Junior was beaten to death for refusing to join a cult group.
In a statement released on Thursday, Down College claimed that the late student was injured while playing football with his colleagues and had informed the management on November 21 of his injuries.
The school in the statement said it is a faith-based college and vehemently condemns cultism and other social vices.
The Late Sylvester Oromoni Jnr.
But in an interview with TheCable, the father of the late student dismissed the claims made by the school management, saying that his son was actually bullied and beaten to a pulp for not joining a cult group in the school.
He also alleged that his late son was fed a liquid substance for refusing to join the group, adding that his son suffered liver enlargement due to congealed blood.
Oromoni said: “They even released a press statement. Was the principal there when the boy played the said football game? Can they identify who he played with? Where was the housemaster when he was playing it? The woman too is confused. Clearly, she’s trying to protect the school’s image. But a mother of children wants to hide the truth?”
The bereaved added that his 12-year-old son died in a hospital while receiving treatment for multiple internal injuries allegedly sustained in the hands of his fellow boys.
He stated that the five suspects had earlier bullied his son and collected all his foodstuffs and clothes. Oromoni added that he reported to the school but nothing was done.
The bereaved submitted that his late son said the five boys had barged into his room, put off the lights, and beat him up in the presence of other students.
Speaking in a muffled tone, he said: “My son suffered. His birthday is next tomorrow (Dec 4). I’ll celebrate it. I’ll have a cake baked. I’ll cut it on his behalf. The boys they mentioned were also reported to the school last term when they bullied Junior and collected all his foodstuffs; clothes. I have two daughters, one of whom earlier graduated. I had to remove the second after this incident. They asked this boy to describe the sister’s privates and this got to us.
“They put fear in him so much so that, when you ask him, he might keep to himself and say, ‘they will kill me’. This way, we didn’t know what to do. I considered removing him reconsidered since his sisters were still in the school. The new incident came to my knowledge on November 21st after the school called my wife to notify us that our son was in the school clinic, injured. My senior son, who was to make a London trip, came to see us in Warri,” he said.
“The next day, we sent a family friend to help pick up our son since he was the only person in Lagos and take him to the hospital. When he got there, he panicked, pointing out that he doubts it’s a football injury as the school claimed. He said the boy couldn’t stand because his waist was bent and swollen along with one side of his belly. His mouth was black. I asked, ‘is this really a football injury?’ He was taken to my house in Lagos but couldn’t sleep at night.
“I asked my eldest to fly to Lagos on November 24 while I took a trip to Asaba, from where I’d also make for Lagos. On getting there, he screamed. ‘This is beyond football injury. Come to Lagos now,’ he told me over the phone.”
