Omobola Kayode, a house parent at Dowen College in Lagos, rejected accusations yesterday that Sylvester Oromoni Junior, a late 12-year-old student at the College, was hurt while playing football.
Kayode, who studied nursing in Ukraine, testified before a Lagos coroner’s inquest to determine the reason for Oromoni’s death.
The witness, who began attending the school on November 7, 2021, said before Coroner Magistrate Mikhail Kadiri that she massaged the deceased’s right thigh twice.
She testified in court that the deceased told her he was in pain and had a muscle pull as he went to pick up his bible that had fallen from the bed.
The house parent told the court that she massaged the deceased’s right thigh on the instruction of the school doctor. She said: “After massaging the deceased ‘s right thigh with deep heat, I administered Paracetamol. So he slept in the sick bay, before he went back to his room. He had attended class in the morning.”
“I stay in the female hostel. I went to the hostel to tell the housemaster. It was the second time I rubbed his thigh with deep heat. I did not observe any scalp lips. After that day, I met him at the sickbay with the doctor.
“I did not have any interaction with the deceased again until I had to dress him up for his parents to pick him up.”
Asked at what point the doctor call the parent, she said, it was at the first complaint that the doctor called the parent.
She added that it is the school policy that if there is an emergency, they call the parent before referring or taking the student to Lifeline Hospital (School registered hospital).
The nurse further said that the standard emergency is activated if there is an asthma attack and bleeding.
“It was on Tuesday when the deceased left the school. I did not follow him to the car. I only assisted him to stand from the bed. His uncle put his hand on his neck and he put his hand on his uncle‘s waist because the uncle is taller than the deceased,” she added
The house parent also told the court that the doctor used to be on duty from Monday to Friday. But she was off duty on Sunday , but there is another nurse that works with the school.
However, when she was cross -examined by the counsel representing the state government, Mr. Akin George, the witness said she worked in Garki Hospital as a youth Corps member as well as in a Teaching Hospital in Abuja.
She said: “I worked with a private secondary school, (British Academy School), before I joined Dowen. I left the last place to gain more knowledge.
“ It was barely three weeks that I joined Dowen, but there were no similar things like this that happened. Most of the time the students complain of headache, stomach as well as pain while playing football.”
When the witness was further cross-examined by the counsel representing the Oromoni family, Mr. George Efoli Kayode, she claimed that the medical record of the deceased was taken by police during investigation and there was no duplicate. The Coroner Magistrate has adjourned further hearing till March 21, 2022.