LAGOS has come to the point where trust has become a commodity too costly for its residents to afford. Like a mini revelation of what Nigeria is all about, Lagos is expertly looking the other way as a criminal case involving the death of an 11-year-old boy is toyed with by an elite school and wealthy families.
Recall Sylvester Oromoni, a junior student at Dowen College, who died of his injuries almost a month ago after being allegedly beaten and fed with chemicals by seniors students. The little pieces of information about the young Sylvester’s death released caused enough outrage to demand justice and nothing less. Recently, though, it seems some powers are working from the shadows to systematically shutdown the case against the school and suspects.
At first, Dowen College denied any form of bullying happened within the school. The school announced that it was strange to claim that their student died from injuries sustained from bullies within the school. Dowen strongly denied any form of bullying happening among students and even claimed that their school doctor certified Sylvester was not critically injured in school. However, the school made a U-turn after Sylvester’s parents released pictures and video evidence to show how broken the boy had been before he died.
Now that a Lagos magistrate court on Tuesday, December 21st, 2021 has admitted the five Dowen College students charged with the murder of Sylvester Oromoni to bail in the sum of ₦1 million each, how can the public be less convinced that the suspects are being protected by some powerful people? The suspects were already remanded in a juvenile facility, not a jail, why is it necessary to give suspects in a murder case the privilege to post bail at all? Suspects whose names are unknown. When a poor person errs, his face will cover city crime news columns; but when a person of affluence is entangled in crime, they will be protected so that even their names are not mentioned in court.
The management of Dowen College has been crooked in its handling of this case, mostly to protect its image and the suspects who are perhaps children from wealthy families. Suspects of conspiracy and homicide cannot be known or may be easily swapped if found guilty at the end of a very indicating lawsuit. The idea that the rules do not apply to the clients of the elite Dowen College and those around them really stinks. How a select group of Nigerians continue in their efforts to dupe the public about what really happened in the alleged homicide of an 11-year-old child is most discomforting.
