The Ogun State Government has revealed that ongoing investigations into the recurring gas emissions in parts of Ijebu-Ode have reached a critical stage, with preliminary findings pointing to possible geological activity beneath the affected communities.
The state’s Commissioner for Environment, Ola Oresanya, disclosed this during an interview on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, where he explained that experts had narrowed the source of the emissions to suspected underground fault lines stretching across parts of the town.
The gas incidents, which have persisted for about two months, have reportedly affected more than 200 students and teachers in multiple schools across Ijebu-Ode.
The first recorded case occurred in April 2026 at Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School, where dozens of students and staff were hospitalised after inhaling a strange chemical odour. Subsequent incidents were later reported at other schools, including Anglican Girls Grammar School.
According to the commissioner, investigations involving geological assessments, gas monitoring devices and technical experts have now shifted attention away from industrial pipelines and toward underground geological formations.
Oresanya said the affected schools and surrounding communities appeared to lie along the same underground alignment, suggesting a connected subsurface pathway through which gases may be escaping.
“We have succeeded in eliminating locations or sources that are not part of it, and we have been able to zero in on the fact that the gas may actually be coming from the Earth’s crust,” he said during the programme.
The commissioner explained that the government was now investigating whether the emissions were linked to tectonic activity involving movements within the Earth’s crust capable of releasing trapped gases through underground fractures. He added that quarry blasting and mining operations around the axis were also being examined as possible contributing factors.
While noting that no conclusion had been reached, Oresanya stated that authorities would not hesitate to suspend quarry operations if scientific findings established any connection between blasting activities and the gas emissions.
He disclosed that preliminary analysis identified methane as the dominant gas in the emissions, alongside traces of hydrogen sulphide. According to him, both gases can occur naturally beneath the earth’s surface under oxygen-free conditions.
The state government has also suspended gas pipeline operations within the affected area as a precautionary measure while investigations continue. Oresanya stressed that the action was intended to eliminate every possible source of leakage and should not be interpreted as confirmation of pipeline failure.
The commissioner further referenced an inaugural lecture reportedly delivered earlier this year at Tai Solarin University of Education, where a professor of Solid Earth Physics reportedly warned that Ijebu-Ode could experience seismic activity by 2028, saying the prediction had become relevant to the ongoing scientific probe and should not be ignored.
According to him, geological experts from Olabisi Onabanjo University, the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company and other federal agencies were already collaborating with the state government on the investigation.
He added that the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency would also join the ongoing studies.
Oresanya dismissed claims linking the incidents to sabotage, industrial contamination or alleged drug-related chemical activities, adding that security agencies, including the DSS and Amotekun Corps, had conducted extensive security sweeps around the affected schools without discovering evidence of deliberate attacks.
The commissioner also defended the decision not to shut down schools in the affected areas, insisting that there was currently no evidence justifying a blanket closure.
He stated that schools had instead been placed under strict environmental surveillance, with gas monitoring equipment installed to detect emissions in real time.
Addressing reports of mass hospitalisations, Oresanya said many of the affected students were treated for panic-related symptoms and asthma complications rather than severe toxic exposure, insisting that emergency medical teams and ambulances had already been deployed to affected schools as part of precautionary measures.
The government has also advised students and residents to use wet handkerchiefs or damp cloths over their noses during any future gas episodes to reduce inhalation risks pending the outcome of the investigation.
As public anxiety continues to grow, the Ogun State government said investigations would continue until scientists determine whether the recurring emissions are the result of natural tectonic releases, underground disturbances caused by human activities, or a combination of both.
