Cassava flour meal kills six in Kogi
Gbenga Odogun, Lokoja
No fewer than six persons, comprising a
mother, three of her children and two of their neighbours, have been
killed in Ogaminana, Okene, in the the Adavi Local Government Area of
Kogi State, after eating a meal made from cassava flour.
The Public Relations Officer of the LGA,
Mr. Abdulhamid Salahudeen, told our correspondent on the telephone that
three of the victims died on Tuesday one after another at the Okene
General Hospital, while the remaining three had earlier died on Monday
in the house.
He put the ages of the dead five children at between nine and 15, while the age of the mother had yet to be ascertained.
He said the mother had on Sunday, October 30, brought the cassava flour from her farm at Ohuepe village.
The woman was said to have prepared
dinner from the yam flour for herself and other members of the family
and extended the food to her neighbours.
Salaudeen said the victims later went to
bed, but developed severe stomach pains over the night which later
resulted in the death of the woman and two of her children.
He said neighbours, who sensed that the
sudden deaths may be due to the cassava flour dinner, quickly rushed the
remaining three children that ate the food to the Okene General
Hospital, where they later died.
Salaudeen said the authority of the
local government believed that the cassava flour was poisoned and had
informed the police for investigation.
A senior nursing officer at the Okene
General Hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said three of the
victims died in the hospital on Tuesday.
The nurse said the victims were brought in late on Monday.
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