Determined to make sure justice is achieved, a group known as Justice League (JL) has faulted the recent position of Lagos State government on late Sylvester Oromoni Jnr, whose murder has generated nationwide condemnation especially the new twist added by the compromised DPP advice exonerating the alleged culprits.
The group vowed to monitor the development until justice is seen to have been served.
The body has also called on President Muhammadu Buhari, the Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, AGF Abubakar Malami and the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN, to urgently review the Department of Public Prosecution’s, (DPP) advice exonerating the accused students and staff members of Dowen International School in the premeditated murder of a promising Nigerian of Delta State descent who died on the 30th of November, 2021.
The group also called on Nigerians, civil rights campaigners and the clergy to rise up to the challenge and save the beleaguered family from the trauma created by the demise of their ward.
“This is one murder too many which must not be allowed to be swept under the carpet in Nigeria” President Muhammadu Buhari must act swiftly to save the reputation of the Judiciary from being compromised by corrupt elements who are bent on subverting the course of justice”.
“The death of Sylvester Oromoni Jnr is a test case and a wake-up call to the Delta State Government and eminent Deltans and Nigerians who must prove their mettle in support for justice for the late Sylvester Oromoni Jnr and the family in particular instead of sitting idle,” the statement added.
The group stressed that “Today, it may be the Oromonis but who maybe next? the fight for justice is to serve the overall good of all parents and not just for Sylvester. If we sit on the fence and not act today, we may all become victims of a compromised and corrupt system someday”.
The Lagos state government in the legal advice released by its DPP said the five students and five school officials should be released from police custody as the autopsy carried out on the remains of late Oromoni ruled out murder.
The legal advice also stated that the toxicology carried out on his body found no harmful substance in his body.
The call was made in a statement signed by the group’s Executive Director, Dr Lekan Olugbemiro, in Ibadan, Oyo State and made available to newsmen.
The group decried the level of man’s inhumanity when it comes to the perseverance of the sanctity of human life which has been exhibited in the instance case of Sylvester Oromoni Jnr and vowed to fight for justice for the deceased until the perpetrators are brought to book.
It accused powerful forces of twisting the narratives and paying publicists to send a tainted story to the unsuspecting public to divert attention from the heinous crime of induced murder carried out by those who are now beneficiaries of the corrupt document in circulation in form of the DPP advice.
The statement reads below:
What happened to the confessional statements of the accused students who allegedly were members of a secret cult? Why were the students and staff members accused to be complicit in the murder hurriedly released earlier than the court order remanding them to enable police to conclude their investigation?
Corroborating Justice League, Mr Sylvester Oromoni Snr has accused the Lagos state government and Nigerian Police of colluding to cover up the events surrounding the death of his son.
Reacting to the Lagos State Government’s decision to drop the charges against the five suspects arrested and clear Dowen College of wrongdoing, Mr Oromoni in a statement said the autopsy report and legal advice are different from the oral statement from his son before he died and his schoolmates who said he was tortured and given an unknown substance suspected to be poison which led to his death.
The heartbroken father in the statement revealed that he has instructed his lawyer, Femi Falana, to take all necessary steps to get justice for the late Sylvester.
Before now, the family of late Sylvester Oromoni, (Jr) has raised an alarm over the release of the Dowen College students arrested by the police in connection to the death of the 11-year-old student.
Yaba Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos earlier granted bail in the sum of N1 million each to the five Dowen College students, detained over the death of their schoolmate, Sylvester Oromoni.
Father of the late child, Mr Sylvester Oromoni, called on President Muhammadu Buhari, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Attorney General of the federation, Lagos State Attorney General, Inspector General of Police to look into the matter.
According to the father, Oromoni said he called the Commissioner of Police in Lagos, who told him he was not aware and that the police was not yet done with their investigation of the students who were arrested by the police and charged for conspiracy and homicide.
I called the DCP and the prosecutor of the case who later confirmed that they were surprised the suspects have been granted bail.
They were surprised because the same Judge that gave them 21 days to investigate the matter released the suspects before the 21 days elapsed. The 21 days is supposed to expire on the 28th of last month, now the 21 days has not expired and he granted them bail”
Secondly, the police are saying they are not done with their investigation and that granting the boys bail will not help them in getting more facts. The police even said they are planning to seek more days to extend their investigation if after 21 days they couldn’t get satisfactory facts but surprised the suspects have been granted bail.
Recall that the students were on December 9 detained in a juvenile centre for allegedly causing the death of Sylvester. The students have been accused of beating and bullying Sylvester.
At the hearing of their bail application, Chief magistrate Olatunbosun Adeola ordered the defendants to produce two sureties each in like sum. The Chief magistrate added that one of each of the defendants’ sureties must be their parent, and must swear an affidavit of compliance.
She further held that the international passports of all the defendants must be submitted to the court, their residence must be verified by the prosecutor and they must stay within 2km of their residence at all times.
The question still begging for answers is that at what point during the holidays did the agents of Lagos State Government sit and deliberate on the case file and issue a legal opinion clearing Dowen International School to reopen and ordering the release of the accused?
Why did the Police who were yet to conclude their investigation and contemplating requesting an extension of time, hurriedly send a duplicate file to the DPP?
The scenario leading to this controversial jumped decision is suspect. Could the police and the Lagos State judiciary be serving a particular interest other than the interest of justice for the deceased?
Nigerians must come together in unison to fight for justice as injury to one, is an injury to all.
