As the strange odour spreads across Ijebu-Ode, Ijebu-Igbo and Ago-Iwoye, worried parents fear possible long-term health consequences, while the state government investigates the source of the methane and other gases, DANIEL AYANTOYE writes

Fainting spells, breathing difficulties, dizziness, nausea, headaches and abdominal pains.

These were among the symptoms experienced again by students in several schools in Ijebu, Ogun State, after inhaling an offensive gaseous odour, prompting temporary school closures.

One of the students who was exposed to the gas on Wednesday, which the state government had previously identified as methane, was Praise.

Sitting listlessly in the reception of a hospital in Ijebu-Ode, Praise stared blankly into space as her mother, Mrs Olorunye Idayat, registered her for another round of medical attention.

The 15-year-old had returned to the hospital on Thursday, after she continued to complain of weakness and chest pain, less than 24 hours after she and other students were exposed to the gas at school.

Recounting her ordeal to Sunday PUNCH, the student said, “We were in school when we started perceiving the odour. The odour was too much; I couldn’t breathe properly.

“My chest was hurting. They brought us to the hospital and gave me oxygen and discharged us in the evening.”

Her mother, who was at work in Ago-Iwoye, about 18 kilometres away, when she first heard about the incident, had initially contacted her daughter’s teacher after reports of the strange smell circulated.

Mrs Olorunye disclosed that this was not the first time her daughter had been affected by the gas emissions.

“I was at work when we heard that something was smelling, and I said I didn’t hear, but I said let me call one of the teachers in my daughter’s school, and she told me that it was true that they were handling it.

“Later, another teacher called and said I should come pick her up. After 10 minutes of carrying her to the hospital in an ambulance, I shouted. I called my husband. When I came to the first ward, I didn’t see my daughter among them, but I saw her in the second ward. They had already given them injections and treated them before I arrived.

“This morning, she was still complaining of weakness and chest pain, so I had to bring her back, and we were told to collect hospital cards, and I did that. Two weeks ago, it happened, and I took her to the hospital at my workplace, and about three times she was affected. The other days that it was happening, they released the students before they inhaled too much of it,” she said.

She expressed frustration over the recurring incident, saying, “I can’t continue like this. Is it not when a child is okay that she can study? I am tired and fed up.”

 

Recurring emissions

The ordeal of Praise and other students is part of a recurring environmental and public health concern that has affected schools and communities in Ijebu-Ode, which has now spread to neighbouring towns – Ijebu Igbo and Ago Iwoye.

Sunday PUNCH gathered that the emissions, suspected to emanate from underground fault lines, have reportedly occurred four times between April and October 2026, affecting more than 300 students.

On April 1, at least 30 students and one teacher were hospitalised after a gaseous substance spread across the premises of Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School, Epe Garage, Ijebu-Ode.

Some of the students exposed to the gas reportedly collapsed, vomited and experienced breathing difficulties, prompting the school to arrange emergency medical attention.

At the time, the state Commissioner for Environment, Ola Oresanya, said the exact substance responsible had yet to be established.

But the next day, the state government directed that the school be temporarily closed and ordered an investigation into the incident.

Again, on May 15, another gas emission at Anglican Girls Grammar School and Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School in Epe affected more than 100 students and teachers, with victims taken to the Ogun State Hospital, Ijebu-Ode, and private medical facilities.

Another episode was reported on June 3 at Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School, Ijebu-Ode, with students again experiencing symptoms after perceiving an unusual odour.

The PUNCH had reported that 69 students were hospitalised following the incident.

The state Commissioner for Health, Tomi Coker, later confirmed that all 69 students had been discharged after receiving medical care.

 

Methane and other gases detected

Commenting on the gas leak in June, the state Commissioner for Environment, Oresanya, said government-installed gas analysers had detected methane in affected areas.

In medical literature, methane is characterised primarily as a biologically inert, non-toxic gas whose primary clinical hazard is asphyxiation by displacing oxygen in enclosed environments.

The New Jersey Department of Health explained that in confined or poorly ventilated spaces, high concentrations of methane displace oxygen.

“When oxygen concentration drops below 15–16 per cent, symptoms of hypoxia and methane gas poisoning occur. These include headache, dizziness, nausea, loss of coordination, and eventual respiratory arrest or unconsciousness,” the report states.

Speaking on the same incident in June, Governor Dapo Abiodun said the state government, through the ministries of environment and health, is working with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, and the Department of Geology, Olabisi Onabanjo University, to determine the root cause of the incidents.

Abiodun said, “Twice now, we have recorded cases of pollution in this school and some neighbouring schools. What is interesting is that the gas pollution occurred at about the same time in the affected schools—about three schools altogether—and this has happened on two separate occasions.

“Following the first occurrence, we installed gas analysers across the schools to determine the nature and concentration of the gas, which has now been confirmed to be methane.

“Preliminary findings suggest there may be geological factors involved, possibly fault lines common to these locations, which could be responsible for the emissions. We are awaiting the final report from the professionals handling the investigation.”

 

‘95 students discharged’

The latest incident, which occurred on Wednesday, made students to faint and experience breathing difficulties, culminating in temporary school closures.

Photos and a video which went viral on X on Wednesday showed concerned parents gathered at the State Hospital in Ijebu Ode, due to the reported gas leak.

Affected schools included Anglican Girls Grammar School, Ijebu-Ode, Ijebu-Igbo Girls Grammar School and Itamerin Comprehensive High School in Ago-Iwoye, among others.

The students reportedly experienced shortness of breath, stomach disorders and drowsiness. Some fainted and were rushed to hospitals, while some required oxygen to stabilise their conditions.

It was gathered that some other victims were taken to the General Hospital in Ijebu-Igbo, and other healthcare facilities.

At the State Hospital, Ijebu-Ode, a hospital staff member, who spoke with Sunday PUNCH on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, confirmed that 95 students were treated following the latest incident.

“We attended to and treated 95 students and all of them were discharged yesterday (Wednesday). It had to do with breathing problems. All of them were complaining of chest pain.

“There were some we revived with oxygen, and we attended to all of them. This is the fourth time it is happening, and as it is happening here at Ijebu-Ode, I heard that it was happening at Ijebu-Igbo and Ago-Iwoye, which are far from here,” the staff member disclosed.

The hospital worker added that some students improved after receiving treatment, adding that the hospital had come under pressure during previous incidents.

He said, “We only appeal to parents. When they rush their children here, they should calm down, wait outside and allow us.

“Not everyone will want to enter an emergency at the same time. Some would have slapped you already, and when their child becomes better, they start begging you.”

At Anglican Girls Grammar School, Ijebu-Ode, only a handful of students were seen on the school premises when Sunday PUNCH visited on Thursday. Some members of staff, including teachers and principals, were also seen at the school.

A staff member, who spoke on the incident, said there had been a large number of students during the latest episode.

“There were many students and everywhere was crowded.”

 

Parents and schools raise concerns

A parent, Mrs Yetunde Joseph, said although no death had been recorded, the possibility of unknown health consequences remained a concern.

She said, “Although since this started, no one died, there are possibilities that this may be causing damage to their body that no one knows. Hope this thing that we are inhaling with our children won’t affect us in the future.”

Commenting on the latest incident, the Secretary of the Ijebu-Ode Parents Forum, Adetayo Adegbenro, said all the affected children were treated free of charge but urged the government to intensify efforts to find a lasting solution.

He said, “All the children were treated free. There are some children who pretended just to go home; there are those with fear. As a parent, you cannot hear such things and keep quiet. Some were there because of shock, some were pretenders; it is only a few of them that were affected.

“To the government, even though we have seen their impact, they should try more and ensure this strange odour ends because it is making parents scared of bringing their children to the school for fear of recurrence. This is a bad thing, and we don’t want it to happen again.

“Our students in Ijebu-Ode are committed to education, and we don’t want anything that will discourage them from schooling. Government should help us to check it very well and give a lasting solution to it.”

Adegbenro added that parents had also been advised on steps to take whenever the odour was detected, including ensuring that children ate before going to school and using wet handkerchiefs to cover their noses.

A Vice Principal of Our Lady of Apostles Senior, one of the schools affected during the first incident, Roseline Onasanya, said the odour had not returned to the school since the April episode.

“It only happened on April 1. Environmentalists came, and the school was closed, and later it was reopened after a stakeholders meeting; then they placed CCTV here, and since then, it has not happened here again.

“We kept water in their class, and we told the children to always have their handkerchief with them so that whenever they perceive the smell, they quickly dip it into the water and cover their nose with it,” she said.

While the incidents have predominantly affected children, residents and some adults in the communities said they had also noticed the odour but had not required medical attention.

 

‘We smell it every day’

A commercial motorcyclist, Niyi Adepegba, said, “We perceive it every day, but since it does not affect you, there is no need to go to the hospital. It is only children that are affected.”

A food seller, identified as Mummy Ola, said the odour was sometimes noticeable even around the market.

She said, “It smells sometimes but not all the time. We smell it even in the market. What can we do? Government should help us out because it is our children that have been affected.”

 

Govt reacts

Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, the state Commissioner for Environment, Oresanya, said that the government had warned residents that the phenomenon could recur and had put measures in place to respond to future incidents.

Oresanya said, “The last time we gave this feedback to the parents at the stakeholders forum, we didn’t tell them that was the end. We said it can recur, and we said, ‘ What do you do if it recurs? ‘

“We promised there would be a trigger from our sensors and we would inform the community. Once you get the information, what you need to do is to have your handkerchief and water; don’t panic.

Oresanya said residents, particularly asthmatic patients, should seek immediate medical attention at the nearest government hospital whenever they experience symptoms from the gas exposure.

He added that the government would bear the cost of treatment, including cases where affected persons sought care at private hospitals.

He also said ambulances had been stationed around Ijebu-Ode to respond to emergencies.

The commissioner urged residents not to panic but advised them against sealing their homes completely because methane is explosive and could become dangerous if trapped indoors and exposed to an ignition source.

Oresanya said investigations had established the presence of methane and other gases, which he said were coming from underground.

“The fact that has been established is that we have methanogenic gases, i.e. methane and other gases, and that is what is coming out, and because these gases have a high appetite for oxygen, that is why when people inhale it, it deprives you of oxygen, and you feel dizzy.

The commissioner said investigations had also shown that the emissions were not caused by human activities in the affected communities but were coming from beneath the ground.

He explained that the gases were associated with anaerobic conditions, meaning they could not exist in areas exposed to oxygen and were therefore believed to originate underground.

According to him, the gas could either be coming from shallow reservoirs located between the surface and about 150 metres underground or from deeper geological storage.

He said further analysis was ongoing to determine the exact source, noting that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited would be involved because of its authority to undertake drilling.

Oresanya explained that if the gas was found to be from a shallow reservoir, it could potentially be decompressed and extracted for commercial use. However, he said a deeper metamorphic source would present greater concerns.

“As a parent, if I find myself in the same shoes, I will be worried, and I really want to sympathise with them, but as a regulator and I have the knowledge, I will tell them that they can be worried and not panic.

“We are worried too; the governor is worried, and I am worried, but we will not panic. Please don’t panic; your government is responding. Our people should remain calm; this gas will not kill anybody.”

 

Possible relocations

In an interview he gave on Frontline on Eagle 102.5 FM, on Thursday, Oresanya said further investigations were necessary to establish the full extent of the potential health risks.

“All we can do, until we find out that this may kill or affect their health permanently, is relocate them immediately,” he said.

On Wednesday, a Senior Special Assistant to the state Governor and General Manager of the Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency, Kehinde Bello, who visited affected areas in Ijebu-Ode and Ijebu-Igbo, linked the latest incident to underground gas emissions previously recorded in the area.

Bello said the situation was under control, assuring residents that the government would find a lasting solution to the recurring problem.

He said government investigations had indicated that the phenomenon was a natural occurrence associated with geological and tectonic fault lines, rather than sabotage or a gas pipeline leak.

Bello urged residents to remain calm, adding that the affected pupils were expected to recover after receiving medical attention.

He also advised residents exposed to the odour to cover their noses and mouths with wet handkerchiefs rather than wear nose masks.