The management of Dowen College in Lagos state has countered claim of a 12-year-old student dying from injuries he sustained after allegedly being beaten by fellow students for refusing to join a cult.
TSB reported earlier that a Twitter user who claimed to be the cousin of the deceased, accused the school of lying about how the deceased sustained the injuries that led to his death. He also claimed that his cousin mentioned 5 names before dying and the hospital he was taken to confirmed that he was bullied and sustained internal injuries after he was allegedly beaten up.
Countering the allegation in a statement released on Wednesday December 1, the school’s management claimed that one of its hostel officials reported that the student was injured while playing football with his colleagues on November 21.
The management said the deceased expressed relief after being given first aid treatment by the resident nurse, but started complaining of pain in his hip shortly after returning to his hostel. He was also reportedly attended to again by the resident doctor at the school’s sickbay.
The school said the doctor later called the student’s mother to inform her of the situation and also asked her to pick him up for further medical treatment. It was claimed that after an initial delay, the student’s mother eventually sent a guardian to pick him up and subsequently took him for an x-ray.
Claiming that the guardian later called the school to say that results of the x-ray showed no part of the student’s body was injured or broken, the school’s management added that preliminary investigation showed that the students allegedly mentioned by the deceased were not connected to the incident.
The school also maintained that it is a faith-based college and vehemently condemns cultism and other social vices.
The statement read;
“It came as no small shock to us to read wild social media tales that he was beaten by some students and that he specifically mentioned some names.
“We immediately commenced investigations and invited the students allegedly mentioned for interview. His guardian was also present during the interviews, which revealed that nothing of such happened.
“The whole incident was strange and unbelievable because: The school has effective anti-bullying policies and consequences are well spelled out to all the students.
“The preliminary investigation showed that there was no fighting, bullying, or any form of attack on the boy.
“He made no such reports, neither to his sister who is also a student or any other students, prefects, house parents, medical staff, or any of the management staff.
“The school has two regular nurses and a qualified medical doctor that promptly attends to students’ medical needs.
“The resident doctor followed the laid down procedure by inviting his mother to take him home for further treatment after initial treatment by the school’s medical staff.
“The school has a very cordial relationship with the family as he is the fifth child of the family Dowen College has the privilege to train, including his elder sister who is currently a student at the school.
“Furthermore, we state categorically Dowen College is built on core values of godliness and excellence and will not tolerate any acts of cultism, which is why there is nothing like that and there has never been such deviant activities going on, as this is a faith based school and effective policies are in place to prevent such occurrence.”