The Lagos State Government on Tuesday said it had traced the source of the frequent toxic gaseous emissions at Ogba Grammar School, Ikeja to a disused septic tank near the school premises.
Taofeek Folami, the Special Adviser to Governor Babatunde Fashola on the Environment, made the revelation at the ministry’s 2014 Ministerial Press Briefing in Ikeja.
Fifteen students of Ogba Grammar School were recently hospitalised after inhaling substances suspected to be gaseous emissions from a nearby factory.
Before then, 25 students had been hospitalised for inhaling the same emission at the school.
The situation had sparked outrage from parents and other concerned groups, who criticised the state government for not doing anything about the problem, thus undermining the safety of their children and wards.
They expressed disappointment that the government had not done anything to the factory that was speculated to be the source of the frequent emissions.
Folami said that government investigation into the problem had revealed that the septic tank, and not a nearby factory as was widely speculated, produced the gases that affected the pupils.
He said: “We actually acted immediately after the last incident when 15 pupils were hospitalised after inhaling the poisonous fumes.
“During our investigation, we shut the school for 15 days and carried out experiments within and outside of the school.
“We were privileged to discover that most of the emissions were coming from the disused septic tank.
“So many things had been dumped there and it was producing some harmful gases.
“And because it was an old facility, many people did not understand the impact it could have on the pupils.”
According to Folami, it was noticed that the fumes increased whenever it rained and that the risk of pupils being harmed was higher during such periods.
He said the state government had evacuated the waste from the septic tank and had taken other steps to forestall a recurrence of the problem.
Folami said normalcy had returned to the school, assuring parents and guardians of the safety of their children and wards.
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