One person has been reported dead following a thunderbolt that struck about five persons in Ejila Awori Community High School, Ipatira, in the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State.
Among the five persons hit by the incident were three food vendors, a teacher and a pupil.
The tragic incident reportedly unfolded at about 12pm while the school was still bubbling with various activities.
According to Punch, the Principal of the school, Mr. O.O. Oshiname, said he was having a meeting in his office when a heavy rain started.
He said, “The incident happened last week Wednesday. I was in my office with the executive of the Parent-Teacher-Association. We were having a meeting.
“While the meeting was on, it began to rain heavily around 11.30am. About 45 minutes after the rain, it began to drizzle.
“Suddenly, a thunderbolt hit and it was so strong that it threw me off balance. The school generator was on, but after the thunderbolt, I asked one of the teachers to turn off the generator.”
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According to him, some teachers raised alarm when they saw the five victims, who were under a shade in the food vendors’ corner, on the floor.
The principal further explained that he went out along with other people in the meeting and saw that the people were lying unconscious on the floor.
“They were all unconscious. It was a pathetic sight,” he added..
However, it was learnt that that the victims began to wake up one after another after about an hour even though the 50-year-old fruit vendor, Mrs. Felicia Fagbayi, was not that lucky.
A source who narrated the incident further said, “The community called in the Sango worshippers and they asked for N500,000. They set up a shrine and forbade people from moving near the place. Their leader said he would need to call his superior. When he came, he gave the community a long list of materials for rituals.
“The school management ordered the pupils to go home until further notice to avoid further tragedy.”
Meanwhile, the corpse was not evacuated from the scene until 7pm on Thursday, May 8, 2015 which was over 24 hours after the woman died.
The husband of the victim, Sunday Fagbayi, said he was not at home at the time of the incident, adding that his late wife was not a victim of any spiritual attack.
He said, “I was told that out of the five people that were hit, my wife was the only one that died. I don’t believe it was because she had offended anyone that she died.
“I believe it was fear that killed my wife. She was afraid and that was why she died. She was a very religious person.”
The state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, John Odubela, who confirmed the incident said, “It is sad and unfortunate. One person died in the incident.”
On his own part, the police public relations officer of the state, Muyiwa Adejobi, said, “The truth is that when such an incident happen, people prefer to keep it away from the police. The command is not aware; it is strange to us.” -
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