A pathologist, Dr Sokunle Soyemi, has informed an Ikeja Coroner’s Court that the first autopsy conducted at Warri, Delta, on the late Sylvester Oromoni Jnr., a 12-year-old student of Dowen College, was botched.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Soyemi, who has 17-year experience in the field of pathology, made the claim on Tuesday while testifying for Lagos State Government at an inquest set up to unravel the cause of the student’s death.
He was led in evidence by Dr Jide Martins, the Director of the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP).
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Soyemi testified that the body of late student was brought to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital on Dec. 13, 2021, and he conducted an autopsy on him the following day in the presence of seven other pathologists.
“Before I started the autopsy, the doctor who conducted the first autopsy was in attendance throughout. I observed the first incision that was made for the first autopsy.
“I observed the first autopsy was not properly done. All the things that were not properly done were documented in my report.
“At the first autopsy, the pathologist never opened the oesophagus (the food pipe). He also did not open the trachea (air pipe). These are vital things he should not have left out.
“The conclusion in his report was chemical intoxication. For one to be intoxicated with a chemical, that chemical has to pass through the food path.
“If one does not open the food path, one cannot talk about chemical intoxication. The chemical that should be injurious to one should pass through the oesophagus.
“It should not have been anything near chemical intoxication if it did not pass through the oesophagus,” Soyemi said.
The witness said further that the pathologist who conducted the first autopsy in Warri, Delta, did not look into the lungs of the deceased and also did not detach the heart from the lungs as was the standard practice.
“If he had done that and weighed the lungs, the weight alone would have told him that something was wrong with the lungs.
“Your honour, these are a few of the things he did not do. I will say that he did a botched autopsy. Your honour, this is the cause of the controversy concerning this case,” Soyemi said.
(NAN)
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