Dowen College
By Our Reporter
Despite the Lagos State Government’s order of indefinite closure of Dowen College following the death of 12-year-old Sylvester Oromoni (Jnr), a pupil allegedly beaten by colleagues for refusing to join a cult, the management of the school has announced the commencement of online academic activities.
It would be recalled that the Lagos Government announced the closure of the school on Friday pending the outcome of an investigation into Oromoni’s death.
While defying the order, the school management in electronic mail sent to parents shortly after the shutdown announced that all academic activities will be held online until further notice.
The mail reads, “We wish to inform you that further to our meeting at the Ministry of Education the school will be shutting down all physical activities till further notice. All learning will move online in the interest of safety and transparency.”
The death of the 12-year-old has attracted outrage from Nigerians with many demanding justice for the young boy.
Others called on parents to withdraw their children from the school following the incident.
The school in its reaction to the incident claimed that the deceased sustained injuries while playing football and was given immediate medical attention by its resident nurse.
Subsequently, the student complained of having pains in his hip and was attended to again by a doctor and nurse and thereafter taken to his house, the school said.
The school further said it had carried out a preliminary investigation where it was confirmed that there was no case of bullying, adding that it has policies that are strongly anti-cultism.
A video shared by the family of the boy before his death showed him in a very bad shape and in pain.
The deceased was also said to have been forced to drink an unknown substance by the ‘bullies’.
Father of the late student had alleged that the parents of students responsible for torturing his son had made arrangements for them to fly out of the country.
“The parents of the boys are wealthy. They withdrew them. The school called the parents to pick their wards; interviewed them. Some of the parents are planning to fly the children out of the country,” the distraught father revealed.
