The Oyo State Ministry of Education and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Oyo State chapter, have cleared the air on the alleged beating of a teacher to death in Ogbomoso by students, describing the viral news story as fake and a complete misrepresentation of facts.

Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Hon. Olusegun Olayiwola; Oyo State NUT Chairman, Comrade Raji Oladimeji and the Principal of Soun High School, Ogbomoso, Mr. Ajayi Adeyinka, who spoke separately on Monday, gave detailed accounts of the incident.

The trio noted that the claim that the deceased teacher, Mr. Adegoke Fatai Abiodun, was beaten to death by some students is false and unfounded, stating that the incident in which he caught four students gambling within school premises happened on May 28, 2025, while the teacher died on November 4, 2025.

The Oyo State Government and the Education family in Oyo State commiserated with the family of the deceased, praying for the repose of his soul, while also warning members of the public to be wary of fake news.

Olayiwola, while speaking after a stakeholders' meeting of the education family in the state, held at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology's Conference Room, said the Ministry's investigations from the school showed that the deceased was not beaten by the students.

He said that though it was true that the late Mr Adegoke caught four students gambling in school, he was not beaten by the students, but that he dislocated an arm while trying to beat one of the culprits.

He added that the teacher made efforts to treat the dislocated arm through local bone therapist and a private hospital, but it was later discovered that he had bone marrow cancer and that it was already at Stage 4.

He warned reporters and residents of the state to be wary of fake news, stating that the public needs to exercise caution with regards to unverified information.

He said: "We have gone into the roots of the matter and found out that the information is false. We asked the principal to report to the Ministry and he is sitting down here.

"The fact of the matter is that the late Mr Adegoke Fatai had been sick. But the actual disease was not diagnosed until recently. The principal of the school told me that he used to go for medical attention since the time he got sick up until the time he died.

"We were told that he was admitted into the hospital two weeks ago and that was where he was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer.

"I also spoke with the wife of the deceased, who is incidentally a staff member of TESCOM, and she told me that it was not a matter of some students beating her husband.

"What happened was that Mr Adegoke apprehended four students, who were gambling within the school premises. One of the boys was enrolled into the school by the deceased, as he was his friend's son. Upon seeing someone so close to him among the culprits, we were told that Mr Adegoke lifted his hand to beat the boy, but that boy ducked and the late teacher's hand landed on the boy's elbow. This led to the hand swelling and the teacher was given medical attention immediately.

"It was while he was treating the hand that it was discovered that the local approach and the attention from a private hospital were inadequate and he was referred to a government hospital, where he was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer, which had sadly, reached Stage 4.

"It is sad that some people are using the sad incident of his death to fabricate lies and peddle rumours that don't exist.

"For you to know how far we went to investigate this incident, we called for the TESCOM chairperson, who is here with us. The Chairman of the NUT in Oyo State, Comrade Raji Oladimeji, is here seated. The Oyo ANCOPPS President is here seated. The Secretary-General of the NUT in Oyo State is here.

"We also have the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, the Permanent Secretaries/Tutors-General and the Inspectors-General of Education from Ogbomoso and other people who have one thing or the other to do with education in Ogbomosoland are here.

"As part of my investigations, I have even spoken with the Majority Leader of the Oyo State House of Assembly, who is from Ogbomoso and he told me that he has been there and has seen the situation himself. I spoke with the LG Chairman of Ogbomoso North, and he told me that he was with the wife of the deceased this morning.

"We shall be sending a powerful delegation to the wife tomorrow, which would be led by the TESCOM Chairman, to condole with her and the family of the deceased. I was even told that the boy who Mr Adegoke tried to reprimand, which led to his mishap, has been distraught since he passed away."

Speaking earlier, the Principal of Soun High School, Mr Adeyinka, said the incident was wrongly reported, saying that Mr Adegoke, a dedicated teacher, died after he had been down with bone marrow cancer, which was diagnosed late and not because he was beaten by students at the school.

"The whole incident happened on May 28, 2025. But he was not beaten by the students. His attempt to beat one of the students made him dislocate an arm and he sought medical help. Along the line, I learnt that he visited a local bone therapist to mend the arm. On an occasion, I went to visit him, and I discovered that the local therapist could not take care of the bone. He was taken to a private hospital (names withheld).

"It was at that hospital that it was discovered that his bones were weakened and the doctor called it brittle bones. I went to see him again at that hospital, but I discovered that his condition had not improved. I had to reach out to the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Ogbomoso Zone, to come to our aid to raise money. After raising some money, we had to follow the guideline that stipulates that as a public officer he should be treated by a government hospital, so we took him back to the government hospital.

"On November 3, we went to check him to present the money. I went with the chairperson of Ogbomoso North LG NUT. We had to sit down with the consultant to ask him what was really happening. He told us that Mr Adegoke had bone marrow cancer and that the cancer was already at Stage 4, which was the last stage. He told us that his chance of survival was 50-50. He passed on the second day," the principal said.

The principal noted that the school had immediately taken disciplinary action against the affected students, saying that "having discovered that they were gambling, we punished them at that moment."

Similarly, the NUT chairman, Comrade Oladimeji, decried the fake news, which he said was capable of scaring hardworking teachers, stating that the incident of May 28, 2025, was never reported to the union, because the teacher was not beaten by the students caught gambling.

He explained that the NUT got involved in Mr Adegoke's case when it had to raise funds for his treatment, noting that the NUT and other persons raised about N2 million for the teacher's treatment and also visited him.

According to him, the union found at some point that the deceased had bone marrow cancer, and he passed away last week.

He said that the spurious claim that the man was beaten to death had caused tension and had been made to become a national issue, but that the union had sent out a position to calm frayed nerves and give the correct version of the story.

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