Lagos orders closure of schools over fatal truck accident

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, has ordered the closure of the Ojodu Grammar School and the Babs Fafunwa Millennium Senior Secondary School over the recent truck accident which led to the death of some students.

The development comes hours after some parents staged a protest calling for a temporary closure of the schools in honour of the affected students.

Two students were said to have been killed on Tuesday, while several others sustained injuries following an accident involving a truck.

According to Olusegun Ogungbemide, Lagos sector commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), four of the injured students have been discharged from a hospital at Ojota.

Reacting to the incident in a condolence message signed by Gboyega Akosile, his spokesperson, the governor described the death of the students as “sad, unfortunate and avoidable”.

“I commiserate with the parents, management, staff and students of Ojodu Grammar School over this unfortunate death of our students, whose lives were cut short by a truck driver yesterday,” he said.

“The sad incident has left me devastated since yesterday because it is terrible to hear about the death of innocent children, especially in a clearly avoidable circumstance like what happened yesterday.

“As a parent, words cannot express how shattered I was when I learnt about the incident. No one’s life, including those vibrant students, who were returning from where they had gone to learn for a better future, deserved to be ended in that manner.

“My deepest sympathies go out to their parents. I pray that God will grant them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. Our prayers are also with the survivors, who are receiving treatment at the hospitals.

“Meanwhile, we have immediately ordered that the affected schools be shut down till January, while investigations are ongoing. The erring driver has also been arrested.”