Parents protest over N25,000 COVID-19 test fee in Ogun

Parents of private secondary school students in Ogun State, on Sunday, stormed the government office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta to protest over the compulsory COVID-19 test fee of N25,000 slammed on their wards by the state government.




The protesting parents accused the Governor Dapo Abiodun-led administration of demanding the sum of N25,000 for each returning boarding student of private schools to be tested before resumption of classes.

The state government had ordered all SS 3 boarding students in the state to take COVID-19 and malaria tests before they will be admitted into their various hostels.

A statement issued by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Primary and Secondary Education, Mrs Ronke Soyombo, said the State Ministry of Health had already made provisions for the students to take the tests, as part of the conditions for the re-opening of schools in Ogun.

The government in the statement also asked the parents to take their wards to designated places for the test between Friday and Monday.

Many of the parents, who took their demonstrations to the streets, faulted the decision of the government to ask them to pay N25,000 on each pupil before they would be allowed to resume.