CITIZENS COMPASS—A suspected student of Ilugun High School, Elega, Abeokuta, Ogun State, has lost his life after a protest by students.
Two principals have been suspended as investigations have begun.
The Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, announced the indefinite suspension of the principals, Mrs Olukoga Adeyemi Alaba (junior school) and Mrs Ladipo Olabisi Temitope (senior school),
The announcement was in response to a video which went viral on Tuesday.
The video captured some students vandalising the school after beating up a male teacher simply identified as Mr Majek.
The students were captured going on a rampage.
Arigbabu, stated that the suspension became necessary due to the roles played by the principals in the incident.
According to him, investigations revealed that the principal of the Junior school was fingered in illegal fees collection which triggered protests from the students wherein security agents were invited to the scene and in the process of restoring normalcy, the death of a suspected male student was recorded.
Arigbabu said the deceased could not be confirmed as a bonafide student as he bore three different names—Babalola Ayornide, Salako Jimoh, and Afolabi Babalola.
He said none of the names appeared on the official state education database, the OGSERA.
“We have all become aware of the unfortunate incident that took place at Ilugun High School (Junior), Elega. I stand before you this afternoon to confirm that, sadly, the incident did happen in the school.
“First, let me on behalf of the state government express our deepest condolences to the parents and family of the deceased. We feel their pain and our prayers are with them at this difficult time.
“However, our preliminary investigations have revealed a very disturbing twist. The young man who lost his life could not be confirmed as a bona fide student of the school.
“He was identified by three different names—Babalola Ayornide, Salako Jimoh, and Afolabi Babalola. Yet, none of these names appear in our official state education database, the OGSERA platform, which authenticates all school enrolments. This points to the likelihood of illegal enrolment.
“In addition, we also discovered that the Principal of Ilugun High School (Junior) had been involved in the collection of illegal fees. In light of these findings, the government has decided to place both the Junior and Senior principals of Ilugun High School on suspension while we conduct a thorough investigation into the immediate and remote causes of this unfortunate incident.
“Also, in order to keep abreast of happenings in schools, a scheme called Whistle Blowers has been established by the government through the Teaching Service Commission to monitor illegalities, wrongdoing, and other infractions.
“I must also appeal to the students: while we share in your grief, please do not vent your anger by destroying school property. We all know that we are still battling with inadequate infrastructure in our schools. Destroying the little we have will only make the situation worse, not better.”
“We ask everyone to remain calm as investigations continue. The government will be transparent, and justice will be done,” he said.
