On, Tuesday, 35 students from Fakunle Comprehensive School in Osogbo, Osun state, were hospitalised after breathing in tear gas fired by some riot policemen.
The students who fell unconscious after breathing in the tear gas were immediately taken to two different hospitals for emergency care.
Parents and guardians surrounded the school as soon as word of the tragedy spread so they could find out what had happened to their kids and wards.
Other parents swiftly removed their children who were remained on the school grounds while others whose children and wards were affected were directed to the hospitals where they were being treated.
According to reports, the disturbance began when riot police officers assigned to PMF 39 Base, Osogbo were conducting their morning training inside the base’s grounds began firing tear gas.
According to reports, some students at the school next to the facility reportedly lost consciousness after breathing in tear gas that flowed into the building.
The students were already enrolled in their various classrooms when tear gas fired by the riot officers swept around the school’s grounds at 9am, according to a source inside the school who asked to remain anonymous since he was not allowed to speak to journalists.
Further information revealed that some of the students had lost consciousness after breathing in the gas and had been rushed to a nearby private hospital for treatment, while others had been transported to the Osun State University Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, by Osun Ambulance Scheme personnel who had responded to a distress call from the school.
Only teachers were present at the school on the Osogbo-Ikirun Road; the remaining students, it was reported, had been asked to leave.
A parent who identified himself simply as Gideon said that he was directed to check the Osun State University Teaching Hospital, Osogbo for his daughter, who was said to have been affected by the teargas.
“When I got here, I was told to check UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital for my daughter. The pupils have been sent home after about 20 of them lost consciousness after inhaling teargas fired by the men of the MOPOL Base here,” Gideon said.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the Osun State Police Command, Yemisi Opalola, said the riot policemen were engaging in their usual morning drills and apologised to those that were affected.
“I just spoke to the people at the MOPOL Base. They were just engaging in their morning drills which involved the use of teargas. We apologise for the inconvenience. There will be necessary adjustments in operation since the base is now close to where other people also operate their businesses,” she said.
Giving further details about the incident, Head of Operations, Osun Ambulance Scheme, Elizabeth Arowosafe, said operatives of the agency, responding to a distress call, took 11 patients to the UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital, after all the bed spaces at a private hospital near the school had been occupied.
Arowosafe also said the school authorities were advised to dismiss the pupils for the day to prevent a fatality.
She said, “We moved 11 patients to UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital, Osogbo and the others were taken to Spring Hospital, close to the school. Before we got to the scene, the school authority already took some of the affected pupils to the private hospital. We cannot just disagree with them because the lives of the pupils are important to us.
“It was when the Spring Hospital was occupied that we moved the remaining students to UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital). We have 11 patients at UNIOSUN and the remaining students are at Spring Hospital. In all, about 35 pupils were rushed to the hospitals, according to the information given to us.
“We told the school management to release the pupils because they were passing out as they inhale the gas. So, we told the principal to release the pupils to go home.”
