Published 7th Dec, 2021

By Daniel Ojukwu

Parents and guardians of Dowen College students have demanded the sack of the school’s management team and hostel teachers, and an overhauling of the entire security system.

The parents, under the aegis of the Dowen College Parents’ Forum, on Tuesday, issued a statement demanding the implementation of these actions to help bring justice to Sylvester Oromoni, a 12-year-old student who allegedly passed away after senior students assaulted him.

This, they said, will help not only the Oromoni family, but other parents and children who are “in a fix” and “traumatised” by the incident.

The parents said the resolutions that “would bring relief” to the Oromonis, other parents, children and the public “should include a change of the school management and hostel teachers, installation of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in all strategic places and overhauling of the school security system.”

Their demand is contained in a statement titled ‘Oromoni: Dowen College Parents Mourn’, signed by Aituaz Kola-Oladejo, Waheed Adeoye, Oluwaseun Bolanle Ajila and Kingsley Kema Agu.

The statement reads in part, “We urge the school management team and other stakeholders to fully cooperate with the authorities in the ongoing investigation.

“While we would have loved to bring Sylvester back if humanly possible, unraveling the cause of his death and bringing whoever was responsible or might have contributed in whatever way to book will not only bring this unfortunate incident to closure for the family, but will also serve as deterrent to other juvenile delinquents in all schools in Nigeria.

“We, therefore, say justice for Sylvester is justice for all. On our part as parents, we will work more closely with the school (management/board) to ensure that necessary measures are put in place to prevent recurrence of this unfortunate incident and stamp out bullying in any form from the school.

“We will also continue to appeal to parents through all available means to show more interest in what their children do and who they associate with in school and at home.

“We appeal to the public to see this incident as an inflection point, not only for Dowen College, but also other schools in Nigeria, as recent events have shown that bullying, molestation and other vices among students are common in our schools.

“Therefore, we rely on the authorities for justice, regardless of the social status of whoever is involved.”

The parents said the incident has left them in a state of shock and trauma as the incident could have happened to any of their children.

“What happened to Sylvester could have happened to any other child in the school. To many of the traumatised students, Sylvester was a classmate, a roommate, a schoolmate or a friend,” the parents said in the statement.

The parents forum said it will observe a candle light to pay tribute to late Sylvester Oromoni on Wednesday, December 8, by 6pm, at Dowen College.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Police Command said it has arrested and detained three suspects accused of bullying Sylvester prior to his death.

Share on Social Media