The coroner inquest set up to unravel the circumstances that led to the death of Master Sylvester Oromoni Jnr., a 12-year-old student of Dowen College, Lekki, Lagos, stated that he died a natural death.
In a 255-page judgement that lasted for over 7 hours on Monday, the coroner, Magistrate Mikhail Kadiri, stated that the deceased’s death could have been avoidable but occurred due to parental negligence.
Mikhail noted that the deceased went through avoidable excruciating pain and needless suffering until his death because of how his parents handled the issue.
Recall that Sylvester Oromoni Jr. reportedly died on November 30, 2021, at a private hospital in Warri, Delta, after alleged health complications at Dowen College, Lagos.
After his death, the Lagos State Government shut down the school and set up a coroner’s inquest to unravel the circumstances of his death. The inquest began in January 2022.
The Oromoni family alleged that the student died from injuries he suffered as a result of bullying by five senior students at the college. The family also claims that he was not treated by the school in a hospital.
While delivering the judgement, Magistrate Kadiri noted that the essence of an inquest is to determine how a deceased person died and the circumstances surrounding his death.
He said the evidence and reports of the two experts who performed the autopsy on the late Oromoni Jr. stated that he died of severe septicemia (sepsis) as a result of an infection.
“I do not believe the version of the family doctor, Henry Aghogho.
He did not provide the required duty of care for the patient whose home care treatment was “trivialised.”. Despite the early diagnosis, the doctor was found to have abandoned the deceased for more than 32 hours and didn’t carry out an X-ray and scan early enough, which would have revealed his deteriorating condition.
Despite the deceased’s condition, he completely neglected the victim. The clinical records show that he did not give quality treatment to the deceased, which also exposed the lies behind his evidence.
“Having examined the evidence tendered by all witnesses, I have come to the conclusion that the deceased died of a natural cause.
“Despite the alleged accusations of the deceased that he was beaten and bullied, it was not proven because all the accused persons denied it.
All the students involved denied the allegations, while some of them were not in school when the incident occurred, as they claimed to be border students who don’t even stay in school during the weekends.
“Therefore, the evidence of the sister could not be relied on because it was based on hearsay from the brother.”
The Magistrate also held that the death of Oromoni Jr. was an avoidable one but for parental negligence.
“The parents didn’t take him to any hospital in Lagos, despite the fact that they have a house there.
They took him to Warri in Delta State and were negligent in how they handled the deceased sickness; there was a long period of days whereby the boy could have been treated appropriately.
“He went through avoidable excruciating pain and needless suffering until his death. The pupils alleged to have bullied him played no part in the death of the deceased, according to all the evidence before the court.
In fact, Edward and Kenneth should not have been in the path of this whole case because they were not even in school when the incident occurred.
Also, no Dowen staff played any role in the deceased’s death.”
The Coroner Magistrate, however, advises that parents not take their children’s health with levity, as well as better synergy between the police and medical team in such matters.
He also called for a proper psychological evaluation of the 5 students suspected of having bullied the deceased because of what they might be going through because of the allegations.
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