BREAKING: Lagos Govt Clears Five Dowen Students, Staff, Orders Release Of Suspects [Official Statement]
The Lagos State Government has exonerated the five students and five employees of Dowen College linked to the death of a 12-year-old student, Sylvester Oromoni, in the state.
Also cleared by the government from being responsible for the death of the young boy, a nephew to Delta state deputy governor, Kingsley Otuaro, was the management and school building in Lekki.
The students cleared by the state government were: 16-year-old Favour Benjamin, Edward Begue (16), Ansel Temile (14) and Kenneth Inyang (15) and 15-year-old Micheal Kashamu, the son of the late senator, Buruji Kashamu.
They were also cleared by the government of belonging in any unlawful society including secret cult, due to insufficient facts to establish the offence.
Staff cleared by the government through the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), were: Celina Uduak, Valentine Igboekweze, Hammed Ayomo Bariyu, Adesanya Olusesan Olusegun and one Adeyemi.
They were set-free of the offence of Negligent Act Causing Harm contrary to section 252 of the Criminal Law Ch. C17, Vol.3, Laws of Lagos State 2015.
The DPP, in a document containing the legal advice to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID and the trial magistrate, Magistrate Olatunbosun Adeola, claimed that the 10 suspects were not responsible for the boy’s death.
In the advice signed by signed Adetutu Oshinusi, it was stated that the case of Oromoni junior was not murdered nor was the student poisoned.
According to the advice, the interim and final autopsy reports issued by the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital and toxicology report of postMortem samples and that of the Central Hospital, Warri were in agreement as to the cause of death namely: Septicaemia, Lobar Pneumonia with Acute Pyelonephritis, Pyomyositis of the right ankle and Acute Bacteria Pneumonia due to severe Sepsis.
The DPP advice further stated that the result of the toxicology was also not indicative of any toxic or poisonous substance in the body of the deceased.
The DPP’s legal advice, therefore, concluded that based on these findings, there is no prima facie case of murder, involuntary manslaughter and or malicious administering of poison with intent to harm against the five students.
“From available facts in the duplicate case file, the investigation carried out by the Police did not reveal that any secret society name, tattoo or insignia of any unlawful society was found in the possession of any of the suspects during the investigation carried out by the Police.
“To hold otherwise would amount to sniffing for an offence and a speculative act which is not permitted in law. It is trite law that suspicion no matter how grave cannot be a ground for conviction”.
The state, therefore, directed that all the suspects should be released if they were still in the custody of the law enforcement agency in the state.
