Twenty-four persons have been confirmed de@d after consuming a herbal liquid substance in Araromi Obu and Odigbo town in Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo state last Saturday, September 5.
A source in the area told Punch that the deceased persons consumed the substance on Saturday at different locations but later became unconscious, leading to their deaths, while some others who also consumed the substance were rushed to the hospital.
“They (the deceased) drank the herbal substance and started dying, eight people died in Araromi Obu while 16 lost their lives in Odigbo town but we are yet to confirm if it is what they drank that killed them but we are sure that the people died after drinking the herbal drinks.
Some of the people died in their sleep while some died when they got home and many are still in the hospital as I am talking to you.”
Confirming the incident, the Chairman of Odigbo Local Government, Mr Taiwo Adegoroye, said the deceased consumed the substance before the incident, adding that they were waiting for a medical team to carry out autopsies to determine the actual cause of the deaths.
“We can confirm the de@th of 24 people, eight in Araromi Obu and 16 in Odigbo town and many are still on admission at hospitals. But we are yet to ascertain the cause of the de@th and we are still waiting for the team from the state Ministry of Health to carry out the test on the deceased. That is why we can’t specifically say the real cause.”
The chairman also said he had placed a ban on the sale and consumption of locally brewed alcoholic drinks in the area as a precautionary measure.
According to him, a preliminary verbal autopsy conducted by the local government health team indicated a possible link between the reported de@ths and the consumption of the substances.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Banji Ajaka, also confirmed the incident, saying investigations were underway to establish the actual cause of the de@ths.