There was panic yesterday in Kubwa, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory, following the death of three pupils at Local Education Authority II Primary School.
They died after allegedly eating biscuits shared by an unidentified classmate on Tuesday.
Two of the deceased, said to be from the same family, were buried yesterday.
The victims are Na’imat Yahaya (14 – primary 4); Yahaya Garba (14 – primary 4) and Moses Sunday (primary 1).
Unconfirmed reports said the deceased bled through their mouths and ears before they died.
The incident caused panic in the community as parents and guardians rushed to withdraw their kids from school.
At the school, teachers were discussing the incident; the headteacher gave an account of the tragedy to officials of the FCT Education Secretariat and Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT).
Reporters were barred from the briefing; the headteacher declined to comment.
The Education Secretariat confirmed the deaths. It said that three others were hospitalised.
A statement by the Assistant Director (Information), Anthony Ogunleye, said the school had been shut for the rest of the week to enable investigators do a thorough assignment.
The statement reads: “The attention of the Education Secretariat, Federal Capital Territory Administration, has been drawn to both media and public speculations that some pupils of the LEA Primary School, Kubwa 2, died today, February 21.
“We regret to confirm that three pupils died and two others are hospitalised in circumstances that are still being investigated.