Five persons, including a grandmother and her four grandchildren, have died in circumstances suspected to be food poisoning in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The victims, who are members of the same extended family residing at Atayese Street, in the Gaga community area of Oke Aro in Akure, died after allegedly consuming pap.
The sad incident, although, occurred last week, but City & Crime learned that it threw the entire family into a pensive mood as they grieved over the death of the deceased members.
An impeccable source who spoke on Tuesday over the incident said the old woman who was a paternal grandmother died suddenly after she took the pap, and her corpse was deposited at the morgue.
The source said the family did not immediately suspect the death of the woman, believing it was natural as the deceased had advanced in age.
“After her (grandmother) death, my sister and her husband went along with their children to the deceased’s house in order to tidy up her belongings and they saw some processed dried pap in the kitchen, which the younger ones craved to have while their parents declined.
”Their mother, who is my sister, made the pap and gave to her children and their cousin who came along with them. My nephews and niece were aged seven, five, and three while their cousin was 10,” she said.
While revealing that the children began to writhe in pain after taking the pap, she explained that their parents, who were alarmed at the strange development immediately rushed them to the State Specialist Hospital, Akure.
“It was at this juncture that we began to suspect that probably the pap must have been poisoned or contaminated and could be the cause of their grandmother’s death. The four children spent three days in the hospital before they died. They would have made it if they were promptly attended to.”
The head of the family, who simply identified himself as Egunjobi, also confirmed the unfortunate incident, saying the children allegedly ate from contaminated meals when they visited their grandmother’s house.
Bukola Adeola, the mother of the late children, who was in deep grief, could not speak when contacted by our reporter.
Neighbours who spoke hinted that the deceased children have all been buried aside from the grandmother’s corpse, which is still at the morgue.
Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, the spokesperson in the state, said the case was not reported to the police, saying detectives have swung into action after public outcry.
“The DPO went there, but the family is not willing to talk over the incident. Nobody is giving any details about the death.
“Even the neighbours are not ready to cooperate with the police but we are going to investigate further and reveal details after our findings,” she told our reporter.
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