Pandemonium erupted at Araromi Ilogbo Secondary School in Oko Afo, Lagos, as pupils of the school protested the demise of one of their colleagues who was allegedly flogged to death by a teacher.
The incident was said to have occurred on Thursday when the deceased, identified as David Babadipo, was allegedly flogged by the teacher whose name was given as Oluwale.
It was gathered that the 16-year-old who had been ill for some days was rushed to a hospital after he was flogged where he was confirmed dead.
In a video seen by our correspondent on Friday, many pupils of the school could be seen running helter-skelter within the school compound and outside its premises.
A voice in the background could be heard narrating that the deceased pupil wanted to go out to purchase something when he was allegedly flogged by a teacher leading to his demise.
Commenting on the video, an X user, Mama Sassy D, wrote, “This is my vicinity. They have started rioting already. The said teacher might not survive this period.”
However, a Facebook user, Esther Wusu, refuted the claim that the pupil was flogged to death, adding the name of the teacher given was that of the school’s vice principal.
“First and foremost, Mr Oluwale is a Vice Principal and he didn’t beat him for not paying attention in class because he doesn’t teach, he didn’t even beat him at all.
“That child has (sic) been sick since Tuesday and the parent didn’t take him to the hospital. It got worse yesterday afternoon after the break and they called his parent to come to pick him up,” she wrote.
Meanwhile, another Facebook user, Bangose Jide, in a post wrote, “Teacher beat (sic) David Babadipo, 16-year-old to death at Araromi-Ilogbo Senior Secondary School, Oko-Afo.
“The teacher is named Mr Olawale, (a) vice principal. The case has been reported to the Morogbo Police Station at Badagry Expressway, Lagos State. David Babadipo was a native of Ipoti Ekiti State.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, had yet to confirm whether the case was reported at the station as a text message sent to enquire from him had not been responded to as of the time of filing this report.
Efforts to also get the school to comment on the matter were futile as calls made to the contact phone number failed to go through and a text sent to it by our correspondent was not replied to.
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
