Chinyere Ogbo
The family of Sylvester Oromoni, the Dowen college student allegedly murdered by colleagues has disagreed with the position of the Lagos State Police Command on the outcome of autopsy carried out on the deceased.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, had on Friday, December 31, indicated that the report of the post-mortem conducted on Sylvester Oromoni, did not indict anyone.
An autopsy conducted by consultant pathologist, Dr. Clement Vhriterhire, at the Central Hospital, Warri, Delta State indicated that Sylvester Oromoni died of “acute lung injury due to chemical intoxication in a background of blunt force trauma.”
His corpse was, however, conveyed to Lagos and a fresh autopsy was ordered by the police.
Odumosu said that after a court order granting the accused’s bail in the sum of N1 million each, the housemaster and others had been released.
He said, “The corpse was brought from Delta to Lagos. The post-mortem was carried out in Lagos. The result is out. As of now, it has not brought out the issue of murder on anybody.
”Toxicology is still to be carried out which is the final one. The interim one has not. Based on that, the court order we got has elapsed and we have released the housemaster and others on bail as of yesterday (Thursday) because they have not been indicted of murder. It is only murder cases that are not subject to bail.
“Since the medical report has not indicted them so far, I think there is a need for them to have their freedom; because bail is not the end of the case.”
But Oromoni’s father, Sylvester Oromoni Senior, said it was strange that the Police while still awaiting the toxicology report, could go ahead to declare that murder had not been established.
He said, “We knew this would happen; and that was why we called on the Inspector-General of Police to take over. We have our own autopsy report from Warri. The report was handed over to the Police in Delta and we are relying on it”.
There have been insinuations that Sylvester Oromoni allegedly died from injuries sustained in an attack; by five senior students of the school for refusing to join their cult.