Students were rushed to hospitals and schools disrupted across parts of Ogun State after another episode of unusual gaseous emissions affected Ijebu-Ode, Ijebu-Igbo and Ago-Iwoye, renewing questions over why a problem first recorded months ago is still exposing students and communities.
The incident affected Anglican Girls Grammar School in Ijebu-Ode and Ijebu-Igbo Girls Grammar School, while schools in Ago-Iwoye also suspended activities as the odour spread through surrounding areas.
Ogun State officials said some students presented with symptoms including shortness of breath, stomach discomfort and drowsiness. Some required oxygen, while others received less intensive treatment.
The precise number affected across the three communities remains unresolved.
The state government confirmed that more than 30 students were treated at the General Hospital in Ijebu-Ode alone, while broader reports drawing on several schools and health facilities put the total above 100.
IDNN is therefore not treating either figure as a definitive statewide total until authorities reconcile the numbers.
A recurring problem
The latest episode is not the first.
Similar gaseous emissions have been recorded in the Ijebu axis since April, repeatedly disrupting schools and sending students and residents for medical assessment.
Earlier state investigations detected elevated methane levels around affected locations, while officials later said scientific work had linked the recurring phenomenon to methane and sulphide gases escaping through underground fractures associated with geological fault lines.
Those findings relate to earlier investigations.
For the latest October 21 episode, authorities are still carrying out technical assessments, and the exact source should not be treated as independently established until that work is completed.
A team from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission also joined the latest assessment.
Students carry the consequence
The repeated incidents have made schools one of the clearest points of public consequence.
Parents and teachers again had to respond to students falling ill, schools suspended activity, and some pupils required hospital treatment.
Residents outside school premises also reported perceiving the odour, suggesting the problem extends beyond individual classrooms.
That raises a larger safety question.
The state has investigated recurring emissions for months, deployed monitoring equipment and previously announced scientific findings.
Yet the same communities are again dealing with disrupted learning, hospital visits and uncertainty over exposure.
Government says situation is under control
The Ogun State Government said the latest situation was under control and urged residents to remain calm while investigations continue.
Officials said assessment teams were inspecting affected schools and surrounding communities and monitoring students who remained under medical observation.
But repeated incidents create a higher accountability burden.
Authorities now need to explain whether the affected areas have been fully mapped, what concentration levels have been recorded, what safety thresholds apply to schools, and what permanent measures are being taken to prevent another exposure.
The accountability question is no longer simply what gas may be escaping underground.
It is why communities and schools continue to face recurring exposure months after the problem first triggered official investigation.
For now, the safest verified position remains narrow:
A fresh gaseous emission affected multiple communities in Ogun’s Ijebu axis, students were hospitalised, schools were disrupted, and state authorities are again investigating a recurring environmental and public-safety problem.
The next test is whether the state can move from repeated emergency response to a lasting safety solution.
