The Lagos State Government has ordered the indefinite closure of Dowen College, Lekki over the death of a 12-year-old student, Sylvester Oromoni Jnr.
The government explained that the decision to close the school is pending the outcome of an investigation into the death of Oromoni Jnr in the school.
Commissioner for Education, Mrs Folasade Adefisayo announced the closure on Friday after a meeting with the School Management and Staff.
Mrs Adefisayo called for calm, saying that “Authorities will investigate the matter deeply.”
Oromoni was said to have died as a result of internal wounds allegedly sustained through beating by his fellow schoolmates who wanted to coerce him into joining cultism, an allegation which the school had denied.
A video showing the said boy with injured mouth and swollen legs and stomach and writhing in pains has also gone viral with the exact cause(s) of his demise still unknown at the time of filing this report.
However, the State government announced the closure of the school in a statement by the Head of Public Affairs Unit of the Ministry of Education, Mr Ganiu Lawal, on Friday.
This statement would be the second one to be issued by the state government on the matter in two hours.
Speaking on his son’s death, Sylvester Oromoni Snr, in an interview said that his son was subjected to severe bullying, disclosing that the boys who allegedly bullied Oromoni Jnr had been reported to the school management the previous term.
He said, “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 the last term when they bullied Junior and collected all his foodstuffs; clothes.”