Queen’s College Crisis: Old Students call for postponement of resumption

THE Unity School Old Students’ Association, USOSA, has urged the Federal Government to keep Queen’s College closed until a more robust and thorough inspection is carried out, and the school is declared habitable by independent assessors.

According to a statement issued by the President-General of the association, Mr Chidi Odinkalu, there was proof that since January 2017, over 1,222 Queen’s College students had received treatment at the school’s clinic for fever, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain.

“16 students were admitted in various hospitals in the country, mostly in and around Lagos. Of this number, nine have reportedly been discharged; two have died, one is still in critical condition at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), having recently come out of coma,” he said.

Odinkalu further alleged that another Queen’s College student had recently been admitted into hospital, and that water sources in the school had been found to contain pathogens.

“The analysis also indicates that the boreholes that provide principal sources of water for the school are too shallow and too close in proximity to the sewage systems, to which the contamination has been traced.

“USOSA offers its networks to mobilise complementary support for this. Pending the implementation of such a plan, re-opening should be deferred,” he said.

The Lagos State Ministry of Health had on Thursday advised the school to postpone its resumption which had been scheduled for Sunday, March 19. However, the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of the College, in swift response, had insisted, on Friday, that adequate measures had been put in place, and that the school would resume as scheduled.