The coroner inquiring into the circumstances surrounding the cause of death of Sylvester Oromoni, a 12-year-old student of Dowen College, Lekki, on Monday, listened to the testimony of the deceased’s mom, Mrs Rosemary Oromoni.
Mrs Oromoni who appeared in court visibly shaken, rained curses on her son’s killers and broke down at intervals while giving her evidence.
In her testimony, she started by saying that she received a message from the school that her son was injured while playing football with some of his colleagues.
After the family picked up the boy from the school in Lagos, she said he was subsequently taken to their home in Warri, Delta State when his health did not improve.
She said that when he was brought back 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.
