EKO NEWS
Epe Auto Crash: Lagos Teachers Call for Postponement of School Resumption
- The Lagos Teachers were traveling for a Staff Audit Exercise When the Auto Crash Occurred
- We Are Concerned That The Government Does Not Care For Us
- Teachers Urges State Government to Suspend Ongoing Staff Audit
Following the tragic accident that resulted in the death of five colleagues, Secondary School Teachers in Lagos State have appealed to the Lagos State Government and the State Ministry of Education to postpone the January 6th, 2025, resumption date for students.
Eko Hot Blog gathered that the deceased teachers were reportedly traveling for a Staff Audit Exercise when the accident occurred.
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Adewuyi Adeyeye, one of the victims, was involved in a fatal auto crash along the Ijebu- Ode/Epe road while returning from the exercise.
In light of this tragedy, teachers are urging the government to delay the resumption of public schools, particularly in the Epe area.
Furthermore, teachers have called on the State Government to suspend the ongoing staff audit or decentralize the process to avoid similar incidents in the future.
These concerns were raised after the deceased teacher and other injured victims, all deployed to Pobuna Junior Secondary Grammar School in Epe, were laid to rest or received medical attention at tertiary healthcare facilities.
Teachers emphasized the emotional trauma experienced by the colleagues of the deceased and injured teachers, many of whom worked at the same school.
In a video statement, a female teacher who requested anonymity expressed her concerns over the ability of Pobuna Junior Secondary Grammar School, Epe, to function after the tragic accident.
She explained that the deceased teacher and the other 15 victims involved in the incident were all staff members deployed to the same school.
Emphasizing the emotional impact on the remaining staff, she questioned how the school could possibly operate in the wake of such a devastating loss.
“We are concerned that the government does not care for us. We are often treated poorly.
There is a need for an investigation into this accident and we do not want it swept under the carpet because a teacher was killed by cultists in Epe recently and till today, the culprits have not been uncovered. We do not want this to be like that”.
Gbenga Aiyetoba, the Secretary of the Lagos chapter of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), emphasized the preventable nature of the accident’s fatalities and injuries.
He suggested that the government should have taken into account the locations of schools in the Epe and Badagry areas when organizing the audit exercise.
By doing so, they could have mitigated the risks associated with long-distance travel for teachers.
Aiyetoba expressed disappointment in the audit exercise held at the Alausa Secretariat in Ikeja, stating that it was an unnecessary waste of time and resources for both teachers and the Lagos State Government.
He argued that these audits could be completed without requiring teachers to travel great distances, thereby avoiding the potential hazards faced during such journeys.
“The number of audit staff attending to the teachers were insufficient which made the employees leave home very early, spend many hours waiting, and return home late. And the reason for this is that the government embarked on this needless centralized audit exercise.
“Based on this, we are demanding that the audit exercise be suspended to avoid recording another auto crash when the teachers travel to Ikeja in compliance with the government directives.
“And when the exercise is to resume, the government should be ready to decentralize the procedure to ease the pain teachers in Epe and Badagry could go through to present their documents before the audit team. If not, they will travel many miles to complete the exercise”.
According to The Source’ magazine In a chat with the Deputy Director of Public Affairs, Ministry of Basic And Secondary Education, Kayode Sutton, said that the request from the teachers has been noted, adding the Government will respond to their demands soon.
Sutton further added that the Government considers teachers’ welfare which was the reason the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Tolani Alli-Balogun, visited the accident scene and the victims in the hospital, as well as, the family of the deceased teacher after news of the auto crash filtered in.
It would be recalled that when the incident occurred, spokesperson for the Ministry of Education had eaelier debunked reports that five people died, saying only one teacher died during the accident that occurred while they were returning from Ikeja.
“The Teachers, who were returning from the ongoing staff audit exercise organized by the State Government in a convoy, ran into an articulated vehicle driving against traffic and collided with the lead bus in the convoy.
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“Two of the severely injured Teachers had been referred to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), while others received treatment at the Epe General Hospital”.
Following this development, the LASG is yet to give a directive on whether the resumption date for the Students in the affected Schools and axis will be postponed.
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