No request to test black substance found on Oromoni, court told

A Lagos-based forensic toxicologist, Benedict Agbo, yesterday told a Coroner Inquest sitting in Ikeja that there was no request to test the blackish substance found in the intestine of the late 12-year-old student of Dowen College, Sylvester Oromoni Junior.

Agbo disclosed this in his evidence before Magistrate Mikhail Kadiri, in an ongoing inquest to unravel the cause of Sylvester Oromoni’s death.

He said he did not receive a request to test the blackish substance found on the deceased.

The second autopsy conducted by a pathologist, Dr. Sokunle Soyemi with the Lagos State Teaching University Hospital (LASUTH) had revealed that there was blackish substance found in the intestine of the deceased.

When the witness was cross-examined by counsel to the Oromoni’s family, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), he said that the black substance, which was found in the deceased’s intestine during the autopsy, was not given to him for examination.

When asked if any blackish substance was sent to him for any examination from LASUTH, the witness responded, “No, I did not get any request. I did not carry out test on the blackish substance.”

Agbo, who told court that he had worked with the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) for 25 years, said he was contacted by the Police Area Commander in Warri, Delta State that an autopsy was going to be done on the deceased.

He further told court that an autopsy was carried out on the dead boy and that he discussed it with the pathologist in the state, Dr. Clement Vhriterhire as well as received some samples for chemical analysis.

The witness explained that the samples sent to him were tagged:  A (containing cake dark brown labelled heart blood), B (containing greyish liquid substance labelled stomach content) and C (sample note containing greyish brown mass of flesh labelled liver), a sample bottle containing light reddish coloured liquid labelled fluid from the eye).

Agbo said he suggested to the pathologist in Warri what to send to him. He noted that he carried out the physical examination at the microscopic level, adding that it was normal to use clotted blood for toxicology.

According to him,  “the Police Laboratory in Alagbon, which was commissioned in 1997, has a functional laboratory for toxicology.”

Asked if it was the only functional toxicology in Nigeria, the witness said, he could not say because the equipment broke down some time and some people were called to fix it. Magistrate Coroner Kadiri adjourned further hearing on the matter till April 11, 2022.