Alleged Poisoning: Osun APC advises Adeleke to stop free school feeding programme

On Tuesday, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun advised Gov. Ademola Adeleke to halt the free school feeding programme recently initiated by his administration in the state.

The call followed the recent incident of the alleged food poisoning of 18 primary school pupils at St. James Primary School in Osogbo.

Supreme News recalls that 18 pupils allegedly became ill after eating their free O-Meal diet on Monday and were rushed to an undisclosed hospital, where they were all treated and later discharged.

Reacting to the reported incident, the APC Chairman, Mr. Sooko Lawal, said in a statement on Tuesday in Osogbo that the episode was another indices of lackadaisical leadership in the state.

The statement by the party’s Director of Media and Information, Mr. Kola Olabisi, made available to newsmen quoted Lawal as describing the incident as an embarrassment to the citizenry and a gauge of the unpreparedness of the "handlers.”.

"The humanity in me became uncomfortable when one of the victim’s mothers gave an account of her child coming back from school with an offensive odour similar to a rotten egg.

” If these allegationas are true, then Gov. Adeleke must have a clear conversation with his creator. How would the food vendors be dedicated when they are paid peanuts and are not supplied with the right food supplies? ” Lawal said.

He said that stakeholders should rise up to condemn the laissez faire approach to governance which was partly manifested with the suspected poisoning of 18 primary school pupils .

Meanwhile , the Osun Government has ordered full investigation into the alleged food poisoning of in St. James Primary School (B), Owoope in Osogbo.

This is contained in a statement by the state’s Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr Kolapo Alimi, and made availaible to newsmen in Osogbo.

The statement explained that Gov. Ademola Adeleke ordered the action and had directed the stoppage of free meals to pupils.

It stated that the affected cooks in the school and their planning officer for the programme had been summoned to a meeting on Tuesday.

"The governor has directed enforcement of food standards as well as the auditing of the O-Meal structure to prevent future occurrences," the commissioner said.

According to the statement,the state government has settled all medical bills of affected students after they were discharged from the hospital.

Also, the Chairman of the Local Government Education Authority, Mr. Nathaniel Ojetola, said that 18 students were treated and discharged.

"The total student population of the school is 200, while only 103 were within the population receiving food from the O-Meal programme .

"Also, a government delegation is visiting the families of the affected students,” the statement said.