A policeman CSP Bamidele Olusegun said on Monday that the Lagos State directorate of public prosecutions (DPP) indicted Dowen College in the first legal advice over the death of 12-year-old student, Sylvester Oromoni Jnr.
Olusegun, who is serving with the homicide section of the state criminal investigation and intelligence department (SCIID), Panti, Yaba, Lagos, stated this while being cross-examined by Oromoni’s family lawyer Femi Falana before an Ikeja Coroner’s Court.
The police officer said he received an interim legal advice from the DPP dated December 30, 2021, which recommended that the school and its staff should be prosecuted for alleged negligence.
Those recommended were “Celina Uduak, Valentine Igboekweze, Hammed Ayomo Bariyu, Adesanya Olusegun and Mr Adeyemi and Dowen College.”
The witness, however, noted he received another legal advice dated January 4 which had exonerated Dowen College of involvement in the death of the deceased.
The witness affirmed that he conducted a thorough investigation on the matter and he was aware that the police had protested that they were not allowed to conclude their investigations on the case due to the issuance of the January 4 DPP advice.
He also said the suspects were not brought back to the police station for the conclusion of the investigation.
“During investigation, one of the suspects informed me that the deceased was bullied. Another one also told me that he was taken to the third floor to be tortured,” he said.
When asked if any of the suspects had informed him that the deceased was injured on November 14, 2021, Olusegun said he could not remember.
The policeman told the inquest that the sister of the deceased told him that her late brother was also bullied some time in October 2021 and that the boy who allegedly bullied him was not punished for the act.
“She also confirmed to me that they bullied her brother because they wanted him to describe her private parts. I wouldn’t know the deceased was taken to the sick bay in October when he was bullied,” he said.
Olusegun confirmed during the cross-examination that a female parent had also reported that her son was bullied by some Dowen College students at the Maroko Police Station.
The coroner Mikhail Kadiri adjourned proceedings until February 22 for continuation of cross-examination.
