Abeokuta, Ogun State — The Ogun State Government has suspended indefinitely the principals of Ilugun High School, Elega—Mrs. Olukoga Adeyemi Alaba (Junior Secondary) and Mrs. Ladipo Olabisi Temitope (Senior Secondary)—over their roles in a protest that turned violent and the subsequent death of a youth believed to be a student.
Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu announced the decision on Tuesday after a video showing students vandalising school property went viral. He said preliminary findings indicated the junior school principal was involved in the collection of illegal fees, a practice that allegedly sparked the students’ protest.
According to the ministry, school authorities had demanded ₦7,500 from students to access their JSS and SSS examination results—charges the state describes as unlawful given its free-education policy. Security operatives from the Amotekun Corps were invited to calm the unrest. In the ensuing melee, operatives allegedly chased fleeing students toward a canal; one youth drowned after scaling the fence, witnesses said.
Arigbabu offered condolences to the bereaved family but noted discrepancies around the victim’s identity. He said the deceased was variously identified as Babalola Ayornide, Salako Jimoh, and Afolabi Babalola, none of which appeared in the state’s OGSERA education database. “This points to the likelihood of an illegal enrolment,” he said, adding that investigators are probing the school’s registers and admission processes.
The commissioner said both principals have been removed from duty pending a full investigation into the immediate and remote causes of the incident, including fee collection, the handling of the protest, and the chain of command that led to the deployment of security agents on campus.
To curb malpractice and improve oversight, the government has introduced a whistle-blower scheme through the Teaching Service Commission to report “illegalities and wrongdoing” in public schools. Arigbabu reiterated the Dapo Abiodun administration’s commitment to free education for all school-age children, regardless of location or status, and warned school heads against levies not approved by the ministry.
He also appealed to students to desist from vandalism. “Destroying the little we have will only make the situation worse, not better,” he said.
Authorities said a comprehensive report will determine further administrative or legal actions. In the meantime, additional supervisory teams have been dispatched to Ilugun High School to restore order, verify enrolments, and ensure academic activities resume safely.
