The management of Dowen College, Lekki has released a statement on the 12-year-old student said to have been killed by members of an alleged cult gang in the school.
The yet-to-be-identifed student is said to have been fatally beaten by fellow students for refusing to join the cult.
A Twitter user, Perrie@perrisonoromoni who is said to be a cousin to the deceased had accused the school of lying about the actual cause of his death.
Perrie stated that his cousin mentioned 5 names before giving up the ghost. He added that his little cousin was bullied and and severely tortured.
In a statement released on Wednesday, 1st of December, the school’s management claimed that one of the hostel officials reported that the student was injured while playing football with his colleagues on the 21st of November.
They added that the deceased expressed relief after receiving first aid treatment by the school nurse but started complaining of waist pain soon after returning to the hostel.
He was then treated at the sickbay by the resident doctor.
The school management stated that the doctor later called the student’s mother to inform her and advised her to come pick her son up for further medical treatment.
The mother did not show up but after some delay, she sent a relative who picked him up for X-ray.
Dowen College claimed that the guardian later called the school to say that the results of the X-ray showed no part of the student’s body was injured or broken.
They stated further that preliminary investigations revealed that the students allegedly mentioned by the deceased had nothing to do with the injuries he sustained or the incident.
Dowen College management insist that they are a faith-based institution and is vehemently opposed to cultism and other social vices.
The statement:
“It came as no small shock to us to read wild social media tales that he was beaten by some students and that he specifically mentioned some names,” it read.
“We immediately commenced investigations and invited the students allegedly mentioned for interview. His guardian was also present during the interviews, which revealed that nothing of such happened.
“The whole incident was strange and unbelievable because: The school has effective anti-bullying policies and consequences are well spelt out to all the students.
“The preliminary investigation showed that there was no fighting, bullying, or any form of attack on the boy.
“He made no such reports, neither to his sister who is also a student or any other students, prefects, house parents, medical staff, or any of the management staff.
“The school has two regular nurses and a qualified medical doctor that promptly attends to students’ medical needs.
“The resident doctor followed the laid down procedure by inviting his mother to take him home for further treatment after initial treatment by the school’s medical staff.”
“The school has a very cordial relationship with the family as he is the fifth child of the family Dowen College has the privilege to train, including his elder sister who is currently a student at the school,” it added.
“Furthermore, we state categorically Dowen College is built on core values of godliness and excellence and will not tolerate any acts of cultism, which is why there is nothing like that and there have never been such deviant activities going on, as this is a faith-based school and effective policies are in place to prevent such occurrence.”
Read also:
12-Year-Old Beaten To Death For Rejecting Cult Initiation In Million Naira School (photos)
Dowen College Releases Statement on Student Allegedly Killed By School Cult Gang