For the third time in two months, there was a gas leak at Our Lady of Apostle Secondary School in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, leaving scores of students and staff hospitalised.

The first incident reported in April led to admission of about 30 students for medical care while about 100 students were reportedly hospitalized after they were exposed to the gas leak again last month.

But on Wednesday, a resident who spoke anonymously said the latest incident occurred during school hours when students and teachers suddenly perceived an offensive smell, causing discomfort and breathing difficulty.

“Some of the affected students and staff members were subsequently taken to the General Hospital, Ijebu-Ode, where they received medical attention. Some of the students were still on admission. The general complain is discomfort, weakness, some of them even fainted.”

“The government has to get to the root of this terrible incident. This is the third time in two months that we shall be experiencing this hazardous gas leak, the government should please do something before it is too late”, he said.

The Commissioner for Environment, Ola Oresanya, confirmed the incident saying that the government is aware and doing everything within its power to address the situation.

He disclosed that the government had also discovered the source of the gas leak behind the Our Lady of Apostle Secondary School, Epe Garage, Ijebu Ode.

“Yes I am aware of this gas leak incident and we have detected the source through our installed monitoring devices. The gas leakage is coming from behind Our Lady of Apostle School, Ijebu Ode,” he said.

On April 1, at least 30 students of Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School were also hospitalised following a suspected gas leak on the premises.

However, on May 15, tension gripped the community after another air pollution incident, believed to have been caused by a gas leak at Anglican Girls Grammar School.

More than 100 students and teachers were reportedly affected in that incident.

Oresanya said the government had activated a multi-agency environmental and public health assessment team comprising environmental regulators, emergency responders, and technical air quality experts.

According to him, the team was tasked with determining “the source of the emissions, assess spatial extent and exposure risk, and evaluate associated gases such as hydrogen sulphide (H₂S), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and other relevant atmospheric parameters”. (Daily Trust)