Tragedy stuck at the Ijo Mimo High School, Akure, Ondo State, on Saturday, as an SS3 pupil, Temitayo Oluwole, fell down from a mango tree and died on the premises of the school.
It was gathered that the deceased was the senior prefect of the school and was preparing for the Senior Secondary School Certificate and the National Examinations Council examinations coming up in June and July.
A colleague of the deceased, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stated that Temitayo was sent by a teacher to pluck some mangoes from the tree after the weekend tutorial and that he hit his head on the ground in the process.
The fellow pupil stated, “We all came for tutorial on Saturday and after the tutorial, one of our teachers asked him to go and pluck some mangoes for him; it was while he was on the tree to pluck the mangoes that he fell down and later died.
“This was the fourth time a student had died after falling from that particular mango tree in this school; in spite of that, our teachers still send us to pluck mangoes for them from that tree. Despite our cries that the tree is evil, we can’t disobey them whenever they send us to climb the tree to pluck mangoes.”
The father of the deceased, Pastor Bode Adegoke, expressed sadness over the incident, adding that the boy fell from the mango tree and hit his head on the ground.
He explained that the deceased passed away at the Trauma Centre, Ondo, where we was referred to.
“When the incident happened, we rushed him to a private hospital, where we were referred to the state hospital and from the state hospital, we were again referred to the Trauma Centre, Ondo, where he gave up the ghost around 6.52pm,” Bode said.
He also stated that the matter was reported at the police station.
The Commissioner for Education, Mr Femi Agagu, who confirmed the incident, said the state government would look into the matter.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Femi Joseph, said the command had commenced investigation into the case.
“We have commenced investigation into the matter,” he stated.