Aghoho Owhojede, doctor to the family of Sylvester Oromoni,
the deceased student of Dowen College in Lagos, has testified that there isn’t
evidence to establish the 12-year-old consumed any chemical substance.
Oromoni died last November after he was alleged to have been
beaten by five colleagues for refusing to join a cult.
His father had claimed he was attacked and fed a liquid
chemical that eventually led to his death.
Dowen College had, however, dismissed the claim and alleged that the boy sustained injuries while playing football with colleagues.
Hakeem Odumosu, Lagos police commissioner, ordered a probe
into the case while the school was sealed off.
Two autopsies were carried out on the deceased — one by the
Delta police and the second by the force’s Lagos command.
The first autopsy had revealed that Oromoni died of “acute
lung injury due to chemical intoxication”.
After the probe, Odumosu said findings had been forwarded to
the state’s department of public prosecution (DPP).
A Lagos magistrate court then granted bail to the five
students charged with the alleged murder of the boy.
The police also released a housemaster and other staff of
the school, saying the court order to detain them elapsed.
The DPP’s verdict after the second autopsy established that
Oromoni died naturally — and not by chemical poison.
The case had been before a magistrate court in Epe, Lagos
where a coroner was examining the cause of death but was subsequently
transferred to the Ikeja high court where the sitting continued on January 31
and February 1.
Sylvester was never
hospitalised, doctor reveals
Owhojede, who cared for Oromoni from November 26 to 30, was
grilled at the coroner court sitting on Tuesday.
The doctor told the court that when he assumed care of
Oromoni after he was moved from Lagos to Delta by his parents to be treated,
the boy was suffering severe distress with scans showing that he had an
enlarged liver.
He said he had decided to manage the boy’s health from home
because he concluded, at the time, it wasn’t critical.
Owhojede, who said he had administered pain relievers, added
that the private wards at his clinic were also full.
“The father called me that his son was injured while playing
football in school and was given first aid at the sickbay. An X-ray was done and
there was no evidence of fracture. He was in pain. His body was very hot,” the
doctor said.
“I asked if there were private wards available. The answer
was no. Since there was no fracture or dislocation and I was told the pain was
due to play at school, I concluded I could manage him from his home on an
ad-hoc basis.”
Owhojede said Oromoni started feeling better on November 28
after being treated for malaria but his health later deteriorated.
Conflicting claims as
lawyers question Owhojede
Owhojede said Oromoni’s white blood cell count escalated
from 6,800 on November 26 to 17,500 before he died.
He also said his packed cell volume (PCV) dropped from 34 to
21 percent while the blood sugar of the deceased crashed to 54 from the 107
recorded at the point of him assuming care of the boy.
Anthony Kpokpo, counsel to Dowen College, questioned
Owhojede who, in his deposition filed before the court, declared that Oromoni
had, on November 30, been rushed to his clinic where he was confirmed dead on
arrival (DOA).
In his testimony, Owhojede restated that the boy was alive
on arrival but passed away shortly after.
Owhojede said, when the result of conducted scans came on
November 30, he told the family that Oromoni was suffering more than an infection
and referred them to Delta State University Teaching Hospital for toxicology
tests.
The doctor said he fetched them an ambulance and left the
family with his nurse but Oromoni’s pulse weakened.
He said he later asked that the boy be brought to his clinic
to be stabilised before being taken to the said hospital.
“After I gave the referral, I was told his condition
deteriorated. I told them to bring him to my clinic to stabilise him before
proceeding to the hospital. They did. The pulse was weak. We did ABC
resuscitation,” he said.
Asked which hospital was Oromoni taken to, the doctor
backtracked saying, “we were in the process when he died.”
No evidence of
assault, Oromoni’s doctor admits
Questioned by Godwin Omoaka, counsel to one of the five
students accused of attacking Oromoni, Owhojede stated there was no sign of
assault when he examined the boy despite having mentioned beating in his
witness statement.
He said he didn’t test for Hepatitis B or C despite
mentioning they weren’t ruled out after his abdominopelvic scan.
He said, after the boy’s pain persisted, he ordered repeat
radiology to check for undisplaced fracture from football.
The doctor said it was at this point that he was informed
that the boy confessed to being fed a chemical substance.
“He confessed that he didn’t play ball but was assaulted by
five students who forced him to drink an unidentified substance. The father was
the one who informed me he was beaten. The mother said the same thing,” he
said.
“I didn’t witness the alleged assault. or when he was given
the substance to drink. It was on November 29 that I was told he was fed a
corrosive substance. Then, I told the parent that the initial history they gave
me was wrong.
“I told them to do a toxicology screening to find out what
he took and the antidote. That was why he was referred to the Delta State
University Teaching Hospital, Oghara. I was first told he sustained an injury.
“If I was informed that he took harmful substances earlier,
I would have initiated the transfer and the toxicological screening. I asked
about the red lips and buccal cavity but I was told it’s from a soft drink.
“The redness was visible throughout the treatment of the
deceased.”
Father, pathologist’s
testimony up next
Owhojede, questioned repeatedly, admitted that an injury
sustained during football can lead to an open cut and the introduction of
infection like sepsis, the ailment that was stated as causing Oromoni’s death
in his second autopsy.
Despite agreeing there was no proof, he refused to dismiss
that the boy died of “blunt force trauma (beating)”.
Mikail Kadiri, the magistrate, adjourned the sitting to
February 7.
Earlier, unfiled witnessed depositions alongside the absence
of the deceased’s father had stalled the case.
Kadiri asked Falana & Falana Chambers to ensure the
attendance of Sylvester Oromoni (Snr).
According to him, the evidence of the pathologist will be
taken on February 8.
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