Pandemonium in Ibadan schools over alleged food poison scare

Pandemonium broke out in public schools located in Ibadan, Oyo State capital on Thursday, as news spread that the state government was feeding pupils with poisoned food.

The scare became more pronounced when those spreading the news alleged that the poisoned food were meant to sacrifice pupils for fetish purposes ahead of the April general election.

As the news spread, parents and guardians in their thousands besieged schools in the state capital demanding the release of their children and wards.

Confusion reigned in some schools where school authorities who got wind of the news quickly locked school gates against irate and panicking parents and guardians.

Unconfirmed report stated that some pupils who were fed with bean cake (akara) and noodles in an unnamed school collapsed shortly after eating the meal and were rushed to a hospital.

At the Ibadan Grammar School, Molete, hundreds of parents engaged the teachers in a showdown while insisting that their children be released to them.

A teacher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told our correspondent that he heard that a pupil died in one of the schools in Orita Aperin, after eating the fetish food.

He said that all their pleas to the irate parents, that such food had not been brought to the school fell on deaf ears.

One of the parents who identified herself simply as Dupe, said she was in the market when her landlord called her and told her to quickly go to the school to withdraw her son.

Panicking parents were also seen rushing out of St. Brigid’s School, Mokola, with their weeping children.

The rumour spread to other schools like Salvation Army Primary School, Yemetu, Islamic Mission Schoool, Beere and other schools at Mokola and Sango areas of the state capital.

At Salvation Army and Islamic Mission Schools, parents threatened to destroy the school gates in their desperate bid to take their children home before the schools’ closing time.

At the Wesley College, Elekuro, parents were seen in large number protesting the failure of the school authorities to release their children to them.

It took the intervention of the men of the Oyo State Police Command to restore normalcy to the school.

The development forced the state Commissioner for Education, Dr. Nureni Adeniran, to embark on emergency visits to schools in the metropolis with a view to calming down the parents.

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Olatunji Ajimuda, called on any of the victims to report at the nearest police station.

The state government has since attributed the rumour to those it described as politicians who have failed in their bid to gain political relevance.

The government’s position was contained in a statement by the governor’s Special Adviser on Public Communications, Mr. Dotun Oyelade.

The statement read, “It has been brought to our notice that some miscreants and misguided characters are peddling rumour around the city of Ibadan that some people are to be sacrificed for fetish reasons.

“Government is shocked that people can go to any length to blackmail and cause confusion in order to gain political advantage. Our people just want to fend for their daily bread without such deliberate harassment.

“Such lies are wicked because Oyo State is peaceful and our poor parents and their children are being unnecessarily traumatised by those few who have volunteered to work for reckless and desperate politicians,” Oyelade said.

Also, the state commissioner for education, said that the government would ask security operatives to investigate the authors of the rumour with a view to apprehending them.

Adeniran stated that the state government was not feeding any pupil whether in primary or secondary schools with any food whatsoever.

The commissioner added that the rumour was the handiwork of political opponents who knew that they could not win election through legitimate electoral process.

He said government had banned selling of food by the accredited school vendors in public schools with immediate effect.
Source:punchng