The management of Dowen College, a school in Lagos state, has strongly refuted claims that a 12-year-old student was beaten to death for refusing to join a cult group.
The story went viral on social media on Wednesday, after a Twitter user, who claimed to be the cousin of the boy, recounted his version of the story.
He claimed that the student was killed after he rejected attempts by some boys to make him join a cult group.
“This is my 12 years old cousin that was beaten to death at a school that cost over 1 million naira,” the user had written.
“Dowen college is a disgrace. He mentioned 5 names before passing yesterday… They tried to put him in cult, he refused and they killed him. Secondary school o.”
But in a statement, Dowen College dismissed the allegations. It also gave its account of events that resulted in the death of the student.
According to the statement, one of the school’s hostel officials had informed the management on November 21 that the student was injured while playing football with his colleagues.
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The school said he was given first aid treatment by the resident nurse and thereafter returned to his hostel after he expressed relief.
It added that the next day, the student started complaining of pain in his hip and was again attended to 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 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.
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The statement added that the guardian would later call to inform the school that the results of the x-ray showed no part of the student’s body was injured or broken.
It also said it was unfortunate that several claims have been making the rounds on social media platforms about how the student died.
The statement added that the school’s preliminary investigation showed that the students allegedly mentioned by the deceased were not connected to the incident.
“…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,” it read.
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“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 said as a faith-based college, it vehemently condemns cultism and other social vices.
“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,” it added.
“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.”
