From Ben Dunno, Warri
The family of Sylvester Oromoni Jnr, the deceased 12-year-old JSS 2 student of Down College, Lekki, Lagos, who was allegedly tortured to death by senior students who wanted him initiated into a cult group, has raised an alarm over an ongoing plot to delay proceedings at the coroner inquest unnecessarily in order to frustrate them from seeking justice.
The family accuses the representative of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), in court proceedings, Bernard Onigah, of being used to create confusion at court hearings to ensure that the coroner never arrived at a conclusion to make its final report based on findings and substantial evidence at its disposal.
Mr Stylvester Oromoni, the father of the deceased, who spoke to reporters in Warri at the weekend, has urged the leadership of the NBA to withdraw its representative, Bernard Onigah, from the court proceedings in order to allow the coroner to carry out its job diligently, so as to arrive at a conclusion in bringing out its report on the matter early enough.
He stated that the failure of NBA leadership to continue to keep the person of Bernard Onigah, as its representative in the court would be interpreted as complicity on the part of the body to frustrate the coroner’s proceedings, hereby prolonging its sittings, in order to deny the family the justice craved over their son’s death.
In the meantime, Sylvester Oromoni has appealed to Nigerians to keep the faith with the family, as they would not relent on their efforts until they secure justice for their late son who was alleged to have been tortured by a gang of senior students before being released to die gradually.
While assuring that no amount of frustration can make the family abandon the cause of justice for their son, Oromoni noted that the family was determined to seek justice even if it is going to take them another three decades.
According to him: “From the events of the past few weeks at the coroner’s inquest, we can draw a conclusion that some parties in the case have resulted in using one Bernard Onigah, a representative of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in the matter to buy more time by causing confusion and unnecessary set back at every one of its sittings, in order to delay its report and thereby frustrating the family.
“We, the members of the Oromoni family, hereby urged the leadership of the NBA to immediately withdraw its representative, Bernard Onigah, from the coroner, in order to assist in making the court draw conclusions based on findings and present its report appropriately.
“I wish to state categorically that failure of NBA leadership to withdraw Bernard Onigah, from the Panel after this passionate appeal would be interpreted as complicity on the part of its leadership to continue to frustrate the court proceedings through its representative who had been causing confusion and dragging the court back.
“We are not unmindful of the fact that NBA representatives just like other bodies were supposed to play an observer role in the inquest proceedings but to our greatest surprise, the said Bernard Onigah, has assumed the role of a Defence counsel in the case by raising issues that tend to frustrate proceeding, in order to buy time before the coroner.
“However, we want to appeal to Nigerians to keep the faith alive with the Oromini family and wish to thank everyone who stood by us during our trying period last year December when we lost our Dear promising son, Sylvester Oromini Jnr, to the cold hand of death as a result of complications from the torture he received while in school.
“We assured everyone that we will continue to remain focused on the case and no amount of plots to frustrate or discourage us would succeed, as we are determined more than ever before to get justice for our late son even if it would take us another 30 years to achieve this, we are prepared,” he stated.
He lamented the present situation where those alleged to have masterminded and carried out the torture that led to the death of his son had resumed new academic sessions in the same school, Dowen College, while his son remained lifeless in the mortuary, adding that this was a clear indication that the school authority, the students involved and their families had since moved on, leaving him and his family members to bear the heavy burden of their son’s death alone.
It would be recalled that five (5) students of Dowen College, Lekki, Lagos, namely; Kenneth Inyang, Ansel Temile, Edward Begue, Michael Kashamu, and Benjamin Favour, were alleged by the Oromoni family to have been involved in the torture that led to the death of their son.