18 public school pupils hospitalised after eating free meal in Osun, Govt orders probe

Parents and guardians of students at St James Primary School B, Owoope, Osogbo, were tense on Monday after their children were hospitalised after eating government-provided meals at school.

The suspected tainted dinner affected 18 students, who were stated to be stooling after going home from school.

The pupils told their parents that they were served rice and egg in school and a fruit seller, whose son from another school ate from the meal, confirmed that the food must be contaminated.

She said, “My son is not going to school. He followed me because they had finished exams in their school. He was playing when they served him the food. He started stooling after we returned home and that is why rushed him to the hospital.”

Reacting to the development, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, in a statement on Tuesday, confirmed that the matter had been reported to Governor Ademola Adeleke by the Special Adviser on O-Meal, Mrs. Grace Ayodele.

He said the governor has directed the stoppage of further food cooking at the affected school pending the outcome of the investigations.

“The affected cooks in the said schools alongside the planning officer for the O-Meal programme have also been summoned to a meeting by Tuesday morning.

“Additionally, the governor has directed enforcement of food standards and control as well as the auditing of the O-Meal structure to forestall future occurrence.

“Meanwhile, the government is settling the medical bills of the affected students as narrated by the Chairman of the Local Government Education Authority, Mr Nathaniel Ojetola.

“The LGEA chairman who was at the forefront of the intervention efforts disclosed that a total number of 18 students were treated and discharged.

“The total student population of the school is two hundred while one hundred and three are within the population receiving food from the O-Meal Programme. A government delegation is also visiting families of the affected students,” Alimi said.