More than 100 students from several secondary schools in Ijebu-Ode, Ago-Iwoye and Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State, were reportedly hospitalised on Wednesday after another suspected toxic gas emission left students and staff struggling to breathe and fainting.
The victims were taken to the State Hospital, Ijebu-Ode, the General Hospital, Ijebu-Igbo, and other health facilities. Ijebu-Igbo Girls Grammar School, Anglican Girls Grammar School, Ijebu-Ode, and Itamerin Comprehensive High School, Ago-Iwoye, were among the worst affected.
A video circulating on social media showed students fainting and being rushed to hospital as panic spread through the communities. A teacher, who spoke anonymously, said the problem began at about 10 a.m. Some schools in Ago-Iwoye closed by 11 a.m. as conditions worsened, while anxious parents rushed to collect their children. “Nobody knows exactly what is happening,” the teacher said, adding that the emissions had reportedly recurred since April. The teacher urged the government to move faster in identifying the source. It is reportedly the fourth such incident in Ijebu land since April 2026. About 40 students were affected in the first, over 120 were hospitalised in May, and 69 on June 1.
Governor Dapo Abiodun had earlier said the Ministries of Environment and Health were working with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and Olabisi Onabanjo University’s Department of Geology to investigate. In June, he said gas analysers installed in schools had confirmed the gas to be methane, and that preliminary findings pointed to geological factors such as fault lines, pending a final report. On Wednesday, Environment Commissioner Ola Oresanya said, “We are on top of the situation.”
Kehinde Bello, General Manager of the Ogun State Environmental Agency, visited the affected areas and said investigations suggest a natural occurrence linked to geological and tectonic fault lines, not sabotage or a pipeline leak. He assured residents that the students would recover and advised those exposed to the odour to cover their noses and mouths with wet handkerchiefs rather than nose masks.
Even so, the exact source and cause of the repeated emissions remain unresolved, and residents and school authorities are demanding a conclusive investigation and urgent measures to protect students.
