A consultant pathologist at the Central Hospital, Warri, Delta State, Dr Clement Vhriterhire, who carried out the first autopsy on Dowen College Student, Sylvester Oromoni Jnr., said there was no proof of chemical intoxication in his body.
Vhriterhire conducted the first autopsy on the deceased 12-year-old student on December 2, 2021 in Warri.
Testifying on Monday before an Ikeja Coroner’s Court, the pathologist, while responding to questions from the Coroner, Mr Mikhail Kadiri, said contrary to social media reports, there were no signs of chemical intoxication found in the deceased.
The pathologist said his findings revealed that Oromoni died from acute inflammatory pneumonia due to severe sepsis.
He said: “This is the final autopsy report that I issued. After I had settled down and reviewed my microscopic slide, in light of nothing significant from the toxicology, I married everything together.
“In the absence of chemical intoxication, and different organs were showing inflammatory processes, I came about acute inflammatory pneumonia due to severe sepsis. This is my final report.”
The witness had earlier told the court that he was served a paper by the police on December 2, 2021 to carry out an autopsy, which was conducted at Safe Haven Medicaid, Warri.
Vhriterhire said prior to conducting the autopsy, he was informed that the deceased was beaten to death and that upon viewing the body, he did not see any open injury suggesting the deceased was beaten.
He told the inquest that the father of the deceased had provided his medical history.
“He told me the deceased was allegedly beaten which led to his death. That was the initial information before I touched the body.
“After that, I opened the body appropriately. I expected to see certain things on the deceased body based on the information I was given but I did not see any open injury that suggested that he was beaten.
“The only thing external was bruises and scalding of the lips. I was expecting internal bleeding, maybe rupture of the internal organ but I saw none.
“At this point, I informed the member of the family that I didn’t see any evidence the deceased was beaten.
“They called the father and told me that in the process of being beaten, the deceased was given a poisonous substance to drink,” he said.
The pathologist further said he saw a chocolate coloured material mixed with blood after he opened up the deceased and took the samples for toxicology.
“I opened the stomach based on what I saw, there was a chocolate colour material mixed with mucus. I considered toxicology the only way I could know what the substance meant.
“I took some samples, blood from the heart, piece of liver, for toxicology. I also took a piece from the tongue and most organs of the body and processed them,” he said.
He added that towards the end of the week, he received a call from the Police in Lagos that the father of the deceased had formally made a complaint and would like another autopsy to be carried out in Lagos.
“On that Sunday afternoon, I had to rush to the office and checked the microscopic slide to write out the report.
“I found out that the blood vessel was not clearly healthy under the microscope, I also discovered acute lung injury, added with the story that the deceased was beaten, I came about the interim report while still waiting for toxicology to validate,” he said.
The witness, moreover, told the court that he was 100 per cent in agreement with the second autopsy report, conducted by the acting Chief Medical Examiner of Lagos State, Dr Sokunle Soyemi.
“I was at the second autopsy in Lagos as an observer because the father of the deceased informed me to be present all through.
“I did not have anything in my mind that will make me think nothing was wrong with the second autopsy as I agree 100 per cent with the result,” he said.
The coroner adjourned proceedings until March 14 for continuation of hearing.
