Violence erupted at Ilugun High School, Elega, in Abeokuta, Ogun State, following students’ protests over the alleged collection of illegal fees by teachers, resulting in the death of one person and the destruction of school property.
Daily Trust learned that trouble began last Friday when the school’s management invited operatives of the Amotekun Corps to disperse students who were protesting the unauthorized fees.
Witnesses told our correspondent that upon the arrival of the local security operatives, students ran in different directions to avoid being caught.
In the process, some reportedly jumped into a river near the school, leading to the death of one individual, according to the witnesses.
Miffed by the development, aggrieved students on Monday returned to school and reportedly went berserk.
They allegedly beat a teacher and vandalized school property.
A viral video surfaced on Monday showing groups of students vandalizing school property in broad daylight.
The clip captured students throwing stones at classroom windows until the glass shattered.
In some instances, they pulled out entire aluminum window slides from their frames, leaving the classrooms badly damaged.
Government confirms incident, suspends principals
The state government on Tuesday confirmed the incident, but said only one person died.
The Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, confirmed that teachers of the school engaged in the collection of illegal fees, which led to the protest.
Addressing the media, Arigbabu announced the indefinite suspension of the school’s principals: Mrs. Olukoga Adeyemi Alaba (Junior) and Mrs. Ladipo Olabisi Temitope (Senior).
He stated that the suspension was necessary following the principals’ roles in the incident.
‘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,’ he said.
Regarding the casualty, Arigbabu said the young man who lost his life could not be confirmed as a student of the school.
He explained: ‘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 enrollments. This points to the likelihood of an illegal enrollment.’