Mr Sylvester snr was talking to Punch at a posthumous birthday held in honor of his Sylvester and he asserted his son wont be buried until he gets justice, no matter how long it takes.
“How can he be buried? I cannot bury him until I get justice, until I get to the end of the matter. Even if it takes two or three years, we would be going on. I pray God keeps us alive.”
late sylvester orormoni posthumous birthday
Mr Sylvester however revealed he will miss his rapport with his son, the smiles, love ,presence and his company during his conversation with Punch.
“Anytime he comes on holiday and I am at home, he is always all over me. We eat together, he asks questions a lot; he is very inquisitive. He can operate his laptop very well and I don’t know how to do that so he guides me on how to do it.”
junior oromoni
Sylvester Oromoni jnr died as a result of sustained injuries from beating by his school mates who reportedly wanted to coerce him into joining a cult group, which Dowen college denied.
In an interview with The Cable, the sad father Mr Sylvester Oromoni said their family watched their last son die in their presence but he reveled the 12year old Sylvester Oromoni Junior mentioned the names of the students before he died. The father of the deceased also mentioned that he has reported the same set of students were reported last semester but the alleged bullying continued afterwards even though the students were suspended.
dowen college
Mr Oromoni mentioned that the family flew the deceased to Warri where blood tests and an x-ray were conducted. He said Junior also underwent typhoid/malaria treatments but his mouth started peeling in excess of malaria drug side effects. The father said his son only managed to sleep one hour when sedated and would wake up screaming in pain. He added it was on November 29, when he was away for a government function, that his son was able to disclose what happened to him.
junior oromoni
Mr oromoni said before Junior’s death he never said he played football or tripped after the school authority claimed in their statement. He further revealed he told him, they barged into his room put off the lights and beat him yo pulp in presence of other students.
read full interview here
Oromoni family
“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 but 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.
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.”he said
”Junior said, ‘mummy, I didn’t play ball; I didn’t fall.’ He jumped off his hostel bed. They kicked him, matched his waist. Other students ran off. They threatened to kill them all if they spoke a word to the school staff. They warned Junior to say he sustained injuries while playing ball. They threatened him. If you ask the roommate, they’d all lie. They matched his ribs and waist. All that pain for a 12-year-old,” he said, trailing off into a soft sob over the phone.
“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 father said
“I won’t reveal the steps we’ve taken to seek justice. The parents of the boys are wealthy. They withdrew them. The school called the parents to pick their wards; interviewed them. Some of the parents are planning to fly the children out of the country. How can Dowen allow those boys to leave the school without informing the police? The boys are five in number: four are in SS2 while one is in SS1. When the result comes, Nigerians will know the truth” the father said
