Rosemary Oromoni, the mother of Sylvester Oromoni, a late student of Dowen College whose death sparked nationwide outrage, has passed away.
A family source confirmed her death in late November after battling a prolonged blood pressure-related illness.
Rosemary’s demise comes just over seven months after a Lagos coroner’s court ruled against the family in the controversial case. Sylvester, 12 years old at the time, tragically died on November 30, 2021, under circumstances that remain hotly debated.
The Oromoni family accused five Dowen College students of bullying, assaulting, and forcing their son to ingest a harmful chemical. Dowen College denied the allegations, claiming Sylvester sustained injuries while playing football.
An initial autopsy in January 2022 reported Sylvester’s death resulted from “acute lung injury due to chemical intoxication.” However, this finding was later discredited, leading to a second autopsy by Lagos state authorities, which concluded he died of natural causes.
The coroner’s court, which examined the case from 2022 to April 2024, ultimately ruled that Sylvester’s death stemmed from sepsis caused by an untreated ankle injury, citing “parental and medical negligence.” The court absolved Dowen College and the accused students—Favour Benjamin, Michael Kashamu, Edward Begue, Ansel Temile, and Kenneth Inyang.
Despite testimonies from doctors, students, school staff, and the Oromoni family themselves, the family maintained that the investigation overlooked crucial evidence.
Rosemary’s passing deepens the tragedy for the Oromoni family, who had kept their son’s body in a morgue until January 2024 as a form of protest before finally laying him to rest. Her death adds another painful chapter to the family’s ongoing quest for justice.
