Seven members of a family died on Wednesday after taking a local food known as “Fate Fate” as launch in Auki village in Bungudu Local Government Area of Zamfara State, Daily Trust gathered.
A brother of one of the deceased, identified as Yahaya Abdullahi, told Daily Trust that one 12-year-old girl in the family called Maimuna cooked the food.
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“She brought a corn flour and told her mother that she wanted to prepare ‘Fate Fate’ and the mother gave a nod for the cooking.
“She then asked the mother to give her a cooking ingredient called Ajino moto [a seasoning].
“The mother was reluctant to give her, may be because she was busy doing other household chores.
“The girl then went to her mothers room to search for the Ajino moto herself.
“Unfortunately, she mistook a substance used for heyna decoration, called ‘Gishrin Lalle’ as Ajino moto.
“You know there are striking similarities between the two substances.
“She used ‘Gishirin Lalle’ to cook the food,” Yahaya said.
“When she finished, she served her self and her younger brother, three younger sisters, her mother and step mother.
“One hour after they had taken the food, they began to shiver in illness with a white foam emitting from their mouths.
“The girl and her brother and sisters died shortly afterwards.
“Her mother and step mother died after they were admitted in a medical facility in Bungudu town.
“Her elder sister, who came visiting on that day, is now responding to treatment after she had eaten the food too.
“I think she is the only one that is likely to survive the calamity,” he added.
Daily Trust gathered that Maimuna’s father, Hassan Jauro, had ran into the bush in trauma.
A team dispatched to search for him by family members later found him and returned him home.