Eighteen pupils of a government-owned primary school were hospitalised after allegedly eating contaminated rice and egg meals served by officials of the state government.
It was gathered that the children, who were pupils of St. James Primary School, Owoope, Ayetori, Osogbo were rushed to different hospitals around Ayetoro on Monday.
The rice meal was served to the students by officials of vendors of the state free school meal, tagged O’Meals, during the break period in the school.
However, the parents of the students noticed differently that they were excreting repeatedly at home; hence, they were rushed to the hospital around the community, where it was discovered that they suffered food poisoning and have been hospitalized for hours.
The parents, who got to the hospital at different times, quickly raised the alarm that the affected pupils were affected by the meal they ate in school.
In a swift reaction, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, said in a statement that Governor Ademola Adeleke has ordered a full investigation into the matter.
While disclosing that the state government will foot the hospital bills of the affected pupils, it added that food supply to the school has been put ohold,ld and a meeting of the affected cooks has also been summoned immediately.
“The Governor has subsequently directed the stoppage of further food cooking at the affected school pending the outcome of the investigations into the circumstances of the incident.
“The affected cooks in the said schools alongside the Planning officer for the O-Meal programme have also been summoned to a meeting by Tuesday morning.
“Additionally , the Governor has directed enforcement of food standard and control as well as the auditing of the O-Meal structure to forestall future occurrence”, it reads partly.
