Dowen College in Lekki, Lagos State remains shut today as other schools resumed academic activities for the second term.
This followed the directive from the Lagos State government that the school should remain shut until the investigation into the death of a student of the school, Sylvester Oromoni, reaches an advanced stage.
It would be recalled that Oromoni died on November 30, 2021 after the school asked the parents to come and fetch him from school due to ill-health.
His family alleged that the deceased disclosed that he was beaten and forced to drink an unknown substance by five senior boys in the hostel.
Following the public outrage generated by the incident, the Lagos state government on December 3, 2021, ordered the indefinite closure of the school.
In an interview with Premiumtimes, an assistant director in charge of the public affairs unit, Ministry of Education, Ganiu Lawal, said very soon, the school would join others to resume but “not until ongoing investigations into the unfortunate incident reach an advanced stage.”
According to Lawal, since the matter was not strictly a state matter and with the involvement of the police and other parties, “it would be ideal for all “t’s” to be crossed and “I’s” to be dotted.
“But I can assure you that very soon the issue will be resolved, but they are not resuming tomorrow (today)” Lawal told the publication.
The state’s Commissioner for Education, Folasade Adefisayo, in a statement released on Monday, January 3, said bullying, cultism, and other vices would not be tolerated in any school in the state.
She admonished school administrators to increase the counselling of students against these vices. She welcomed students, teachers and school administrators to the beginning of a New Year and second term of 2021/2022 school session.
“Devise appropriate strategies to advance teacher, student interaction in order to gain insight and expose negative tendencies before they metamorphose into unfortunate situations. Adequate monitoring, especially as it affects boarding school students should be enforced to prevent the incidence of bullying and all other vices,” the commissioner advised.
