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Ijaw youths surround Dowen College after exoneration of suspects by Lagos Govt

Lagos authorities had exonerated suspects accused of killing Sylvester Oromoni after he refused to join their cult at Dowen College.

• January 6, 2022

Persons believed to be members of the Ijaw Youth Council on Thursday stormed the premises of Dowen College to protest the recent release of suspects detained over the death of Sylvester Oromoni.

The youths in a now-viral Instagram video barricaded the entrance of the school premises to demand justice for Sylvester whose death sparked outrage across the country.

While some of the youths wore T-shirts with a picture of the late student, others dressed in traditional attires wielding a blue and red flag.

Recall that the commissioner of police in Lagos, Hakeem Odumosu, on Friday, disclosed that the housemasters and other suspects were released because they had not been indicted of murder.

Mr Odumosu who stated the result of autopsy conducted in Lagos had been released, noted that the court order to remand the suspects had elapsed.

Also, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) in the Lagos State Ministry of Justice Adetutu Oshinusi, while clearing the five students arrested in connection with the murder of twelve-year-old Sylvester Oromoni asserted there was not sufficient evidence to establish that the arrested students were members of unlawful society.

However, Sylvester Oromoni, the father of the late student, faulted the development by the police, describing it as unacceptable.

“I saw the press briefing by the police commissioner that no one has been indicted and they have been released. The autopsy result conducted in Lagos has not been made public. The one we conducted in Warri has not been made public. So, for him to conclude that no one has been indicted is not acceptable to the family,” he said.

Mr Oromoni accused the police of acting “hurriedly”. He also claimed that the family summoned the Inspector-General of Police to take over the case, after it suspected that the police would release the suspects.

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