A coroner sitting in the Ikeja Magistrates’ Court has barred journalists and the public from covering and witnessing the inquest.

The case aims to unravel the circumstances that led to the death of a 12-year-old student of Dowen College, Sylvester Oromoni Jnr.

The court registrar announced that the hearing was mainly for lawyers and urged journalists and others to leave the courtroom.

The decision was taken because some of the senior students of Dowen College accused of beating the deceased were in court to testify.

A representative of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ikeja branch, Benard Oniga, said journalists would not be allowed to cover the proceedings during the week as minors would be testifying.

“Journalists will be shut out from covering the inquest this week because minors will be testifying. The witnesses are minors, and the purpose is to protect the Child Rights Acts,” he said.

Master Oromoni’s family alleged that he died on November 30, 2021, from injuries sustained in an attack by five senior students.

The family also alleged that the deceased was attacked for refusing to join a cult and forced to drink a substance by his attackers.

Advice by the Lagos director of public prosecutions released on January 4, however, disputed the allegations.

It stated that an autopsy revealed the cause of the student’s death as acute bacterial pneumonia due to severe sepsis.

(NAN)