The father of the 12-year-old student of Dowen College, Sylvester Oromoni has revealed that his son was bullied and fed with a chemical substance by his colleagues for refusing to join their cult.
A cousin of the leased, Perrie Oromoni had chronicled how the young boy was brutalised by 5 school cult members when he rejected attempts to get initiated.
According to Perrie, “This is my 12 years old cousin that was beaten to death at a school that cost over 1 million naira.“Dowen college is a disgrace. He mentioned 5 names before passing yesterday… They tried to put him in cult, he refused and they killed him. Secondary school o,” he had said.
Perrie@perrisonoromoni states further that “He kept complaining about his throat and stomach. Said he was given something to drink. God help us“
The school management has however, denied that Oromoni Junior was beaten to death for refusing to join a cult group.
In a statement released on Thursday, they maintained that the student was injured while playing football with his colleagues.
They said he was treated in the school and later handed over to his parents when he was not feeling better.
READ: Dowen College Releases Statement on Student Allegedly Killed By School Cult Gang
They stated that they are a faith-based institution with strong anti-cultism policies.
However, in an interview with The Cable, the father of the deceased dismissed the claims made by the school management. He insisted that his son was indeed bullied and beaten to a pulp for not joining a cult gang in the school.
He added that the young boy was also fed with a liquid substance fro his refusal adding that he suffered liver enlargement due to congealed blood.
Oromoni said: “They even released a press statement. Was the principal there when the boy played the said football game? Can they identify who he played with? Where was the housemaster when he was playing it? The woman too is confused. Clearly, she’s trying to protect the school’s image. But a mother of children wants to hide the truth?”
The bereaved added that his 12-year-old son died in a hospital while receiving treatment for multiple internal injuries allegedly sustained in the hands of his fellow boys.
He stated that the five suspects had earlier bullied his son and collected all his foodstuffs and clothes. Oromoni added that he reported to the school but nothing was done.
The bereaved submitted that his late son said the five boys had barged into his room, put off the lights, and beat him up in the presence of other students.
Speaking in a muffled tone, he said: “My son suffered. His birthday is next tomorrow (Dec 4). I’ll celebrate it. I’ll have a cake baked. I’ll cut it on his behalf. The boys they mentioned were also reported to the school last term when they bullied Junior and collected all his foodstuffs; clothes. I have two daughters, one of whom earlier graduated. I had to remove the second after this incident. They asked this boy to describe the sister’s privates and this got to us.
“They put fear in him so much so that, when you ask him, he might keep to himself and say, ‘they will kill me’. This way, we didn’t know what to do. I considered removing him reconsidered since his sisters were still in the school. The new incident came to my knowledge on November 21st after the school called my wife to notify us that our son was in the school clinic, injured. My senior son, who was to make a London trip, came to see us in Warri,” he said.
“The next day, we sent a family friend to help pick up our son since he was the only person in Lagos and take him to the hospital. When he got there, he panicked, pointing out that he doubts it’s a football injury as the school claimed. He said the boy couldn’t stand because his waist was bent and swollen along with one side of his belly. His mouth was black. I asked, ‘is this really a football injury?’ He was taken to my house in Lagos but couldn’t sleep at night.
“I asked my eldest to fly to Lagos on November 24 while I took a trip to Asaba, from where I’d also make for Lagos. On getting there, he screamed. ‘This is beyond football injury. Come to Lagos now,’ he told me over the phone.”
Read also:
Video of 12-Year-Old Brutally Beaten in Highbrow School Emerges
‘My Son Was Killed for Refusing to Join Cult’ – Father of M*rdered 12-Year-Old Student (photo)