By Jelili Gbadamosi
The Ondo State Government has mobilised health officials and relevant agencies to investigate the deaths of more than 24 persons in Odigbo Local Government Area following suspected poisoning.
The victims, mostly youths, reportedly died over the weekend in Odigbo and Araromi-Obu communities, while several others are currently receiving treatment in various hospitals.
The state government said it was working with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), World Health Organisation (WHO) and other relevant agencies to determine the actual cause of the deaths.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Banji Ajaka, confirmed the development in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Ajaka said officials were already in the affected communities as part of an urgent investigation into the incident.
According to him, preliminary findings suggest that the deaths may be linked to the ingestion of an alcoholic substance, but he stressed that the government had yet to establish the exact cause.
“We want to conduct a thorough investigation to know the cause. From our preliminary report, it is possibly an ingestion of alcoholic substance,” the commissioner said.
Ajaka said the government could not immediately provide an accurate death toll because some victims had already been buried, others were in mortuaries, while some remained on admission in hospitals.
He identified Odigbo and Araromi-Obu as the communities affected by the incident.
The commissioner urged the public to avoid spreading unverified information, stressing that it would be premature to blame any particular substance for the deaths until laboratory tests and medical investigations had been completed.
