A Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Lagos yesterday remanded three students and three staff of Dowen College Lekki in custody over assault and death of 12-year-old Sylvester Oromoni Junior.
Magistrate A.O. Olatunbosu gave the order following an application filed by the Lagos State Police Command seeking to keep the suspects in custody pending the outcome of its investigation on the tragic incident.
Although the police asked that the suspects be remanded for 30 days, the magistrate granted 25 days and ordered that the underage suspects be kept at the juvenile remand centre.
The court further directed that three staff be remanded in police custody and that the case file be duplicated and sent to the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice.
12-year-old Omoroni reportedly died from the injuries sustained during an alleged assault by five of his colleagues who wanted to initiate him into cultism.
Jolted by public outcry, the police authorities began an investigation on Monday and earlier quizzed three students.
The Lagos State Police Command had on Tuesday said five students of Dowen College, as well as three housemasters of the school were already in their custody over alleged involvement in the death of their colleague.
The state commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, said three students of the college were currently assisting the police in their investigation.
According to the police, four of the students were allegedly mentioned by the parents of the victim to be directly involved in the crime while another student is assisting police investigations.
He said nobody is above the law, adding that the police would carry out its work in line with the juvenile laws.
“The students whose names were mentioned are in police custody and investigation is on. Equally too, I have gotten in touch with my colleague in Delta State,” he said.
The police authorities had so far refused to make public the names of the suspects in its custody over the incident.
