About twenty students of Fakunle Comprehensive High School, Osogbo, have been left hospitalized, after a tear gas attack in the school this morning.
The tear gas was due to a morning drill exercise of the mobile policemen of the 39 Squadron Division located opposite the school along Osogbo-Ikirun road in the state capital.
According to a teacher, who pleaded anonymity, some of the students collapsed as a result of the intensity of the tear gas inside the school. The other students have been asked to go home to avoid a breakdown of law and order.
“13 of the students were taken to a private hospital behind the school, while 7 or 8 others were taken to Uniosun teaching hospital for treatment. Some of them have been stabilized while others are still under watch”
A mother, Mrs Adeola Fatima, who rushed to the school to look for her daughter, identified as Hikmah, said she was told she has been taken to a hospital for treatment.
As at the time of filing this report, parents were still rushing to the school to find out the whereabouts of their children.
Meanwhile, the State Ministry of Education disclosed that the situation is under control as the issue has been escalated to the Commissioner of Police in the state.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Adelani Aderinola, who spoke through the Information Officer, Roseline Olawuni, said the mobile policemen were holding a memorial exercise in honour of their fallen colleagues in Benue state.
“They were shooting tear gas which affected the students in the school. However, the matter has been escalated to the Police Commissioner who has stopped the exercise.
“The students have been taken to the hospital and most of them have been stabilised,” he said.
Source:Vanguard
