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Family loses five children, dog, after amala meal
The air was thick with sorrow as Mrs. Peju Ogunlusi, a middle-aged woman from Ayegunle-Ekiti in Ijero Local Government, Ekiti State, asked, ”Please, where are my children? I don‘t know what is happening?” Her question wasn‘t directed at anyone in particular, but if it had been, none of the people gathered would have answered. Such was the sorrow.
Peju and her husband, Kayode, lost five of their children after a meal of Amala (cassava flour) at the beginning of the week on Sunday.
One of the children died on Sunday, two died on Monday at the hospital, while the remaining two died on Tuesday after the doctors lost the battle to save their lives.The family‘s dog, which also ate from the meal, died three hours later.
Kayode gave the names of the children as Iyabo, 18 year- old, Rotimi, 12, Pelumi, 8, Abigael, 5 and the baby of the house, Ade, who was said to be around four year-old.
The meal was prepared by Peju, who is heavily pregnant, and one of her daughters. Kayode‘s second wife, Abigael, had been hospitalised at the Ado-Ekiti University Teaching Hospital after the meal, but she was treated and discharged on Tuesday.
Although Kayode also ate the meal; he was not affected. However, doctors are still battling to safe the live of Ogunlusi‘s nephew who also ate the cassava flour meal.
Ogunlusi, a farmer, told journalists amidst sobs that, ”My first wife, Peju, prepared the ewedu soup and the fish stew, while Iyabo prepared amala. We ate around 8 pm. but about 4 am, Peju started vomiting and this continued until she became very weak.
”After we took care of her, about 10am, Iyabo also started complaining of stomach ache. I took her to a private hospital, but she did not respond to treatment, she also became weak. Within a short time both of them could not talk again. The kabiyesi (monarch) heard about the incident and he visited us. He called the Commissioner for Health who sent an ambulance to come and convey all of them including the other ones to the teaching hospital here.”
Ogunlusi confirmed that the five dead children were children of his first wife, Peju. He said Peju was aware of the death of one of her children but the family was yet to inform her about the death of other four.
He stated that the cassava flour was processed by the family and it was ground at a mill. He wondered how the food was poisoned.
While the incident has become the talk of town, family members were suspecting a foul play. But a doctor at the hospital, Olusoji Abidemi, said although no autopsy had been conducted, he suspected that the cassava was not well processed.
The doctor, who confirmed that the first child was brought dead into the hospital, added that if the cassava was not well processed, the cyanide in it might be poisonous.
http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20100519235693
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