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Ogogoro scare! *Stay off, officials warn, as six die after local gin consumption

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Ogbogbo, an agrarian community in Ijebu North-East Local Government Area of Ogun State was last Tuesday, thrown into mourning when six persons lost their lives after drinking local gin, allegedly served by their friend.

It was reliably gathered that though there was a disagreement among the six friends and the suspect (now at large) over an undisclosed issue, some persons mediated and had it settled.

It was also gathered that though the six persons who drank the alcohol died, the seventh person who reportedly served the drink without partaking in the drinking was alive.

Vanguard, quoting a resident in the area, an alcohol seller had been accused of selling poisonous gin, which led to the death of people, adding however that upon investigation, they gathered that the killer drink was served by one of the deceased person’s friends.

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A few hours after they had departed to their various destinations, news filtered into the town that two of the friends had died while four others were hospitalised, only for the other four persons  to have died the following day while the suspect was reported to have fled over the incident.

The source said: “It was later that night that the news started breaking that those who drank from the alcohol were dying while some of them were rushed to the hospital.
“Six people have been announced dead and the whereabouts of the man who brought the alcohol was unknown.”

The mysterious death has created anxiety in Ijebuland over the alleged killer-drink in circulation, with a viral statement, saying: “Ogogoro drinker. There is a dangerous and killer local gin currently in circulation in Ijebuland. Over six people have gone to the burial ground in the last week. Save your life by totally abstaining from any herbal mixture made of ogogoro right now.”

The joint where the alleged contaminated alcohol was served has been put under lock by the local government authority, while the family of one of the victims is said to have relocated from the town, since the head of the family was dead while that of another victim, said they were not interested in talking with anybody on the matter.

Solomon Awonuga, a community leader, however, offered: “When I heard about it, I thought it was a joke until it turned out to be true. What I can only say is that may God continue to protect us. Nobody can confirm that the gin was poisoned by their friend.”

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Another person, who spoke under the condition of anonymity said: “We thank God that we still have some of them that survived. One of them was discharged from General Hospital, Ijebu Ode last week Friday.”

Thought the said survivor, was said to have travelled to Lagos State, another resident, said: “Though he was not there, what he heard was that the seven of them were friends, but there was a misunderstanding between them and some persons summoned them to settle the disagreement.

“They gathered at the residence of the seventh person, whose mother sells local gin (ogogoro) for reconciliation. After the reconciliation, the man brought out the gin for drinking; after that, everybody went to their various houses, only for them to hear that some of them died before dawn. Others were rushed to hospital but later died.”

Omolola Odutola, spokesman of the Ogun State Police Command, who disclosed that the families of the victims said they were not interested in pressing charges but prefers to bury their dead, added that nobody has been arrested in connection to the incident.

Odutola said: “Since the families of the victims had said that they were not interested in pressing any case, a warrant for burial had been issued to them by the police for them to bury their dead.”
She clarified that they were not killed by the woman who sold alcohol. The state police command has deployed crack detectives to Ogbogbo for proper investigation.”

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Stating that no arrest had been made so far, she assured that the command would not leave any stone unturned in its bid to unravel both the immediate and remote causes of the incident, warning against speculations until investigations were concluded.

Dr Tomi Coker, Special Adviser to the State Governor on Health, while confirming that about eight persons had died while 11 others were in critical condition, said there were reports of 11 cases of severe illnesses and eight deaths directly linked to the consumption of locally brewed alcoholic products.

Coker said: “It is of utmost importance to only consume products that have been officially approved and certified by NAFDAC. The unauthorised production and distribution of alcoholic beverages and other consumable items pose significant health risks as they are often manufactured in unregulated and unhygienic conditions, making them potential breeding grounds for harmful substances and toxins.

“Such substances can lead to severe health complications and, in some cases, fatal outcomes, as evidenced by the recent incidents in Ijebu North-East and Odogbolu LGAs. We, hereby, urge the public to report any suspicious locally brewed alcoholic drink to the appropriate authorities or NAFDAC.”

The Special Adviser added that residents should also report any case of illness or death after consumption of similar products including herbal concoctions to the nearest government hospital.

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BREAKING: Death penalty for fake drugs! *NAFDAC to push new law at NASS

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Those peddling fake and substandard drugs in Nigeria should be ready for the hangman’s noose, if the thinking of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), becomes the new law.

Mojisola Adeyeye, Director General of the body, who said on Friday that no other form of punishment is fitting enough, gave instances of where the application of such dangerous substances in form of health drugs, had led to fatalities.

Advocating that only stiff penalties would deter peddlers especially when deaths of children became involved, the NAFDAC boss, who appeared as a guest on The Morning Brief, a breakfast programme on Channels Television, said: “Somebody bought children’s medicine for N13,000 or something like that, another person was selling about N3,000 in the same mall. 

“That raised an alarm. Guess what? There was nothing inside that medicine when we tested it in our Kaduna lab. So, I want the death penalty. Because you don’t need to put a gun on the head of a child before you kill that child. Just give that child bad medicine.”

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Advocating that the National Assembly and the judiciary to make the proposal a reality, adding that the agency was open to partnering with lawmakers and other stakeholders on the matter, she added: “You cannot fight substandard, falsified medicine in isolation. The agency can do as much as it can but if there is no deterrent, there’s going to be a problem.

“Somebody brought in 225mg of Tramadol that can kill anybody, fry the brain and you give a judgment of five years in prison or N250,000. Who doesn’t know that that person will go to the ATM and get N250,000? That is part of our problem.

“There are no strict measures to deter [people] from repeating the same thing. We can do as much as we can but if our law is not strong enough, or the judiciary is not strong enough to stand up, we’re going to have a problem.

“So, our judiciary system must be strong enough. But we are working with the National Assembly to make our penalties very stiff.  But if you kill a child by bad medicine, you deserve to die. We have a lot on our plate in stemming drug peddling.

“Withe about 2,000 staff members nationwide and limited funding, NAFDAC is constrained in carrying out its activities. So, when it comes to staffing, you’re right on the point. We are short-staffed and I am hoping things will be better.”

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Give us electoral offences tribunal to take care of heist – INEC  

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Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday, made a fresh push for the creation of an electoral offences tribunal, to curb the cases of attacks on the Nigerian democratic system.

Mahmood Yakubu, INEC Chairman, told reporters at the commission’s first regular quarterly consultative meeting with the media that the tribunal had become important owing to the backlog of electoral offence cases.

He said: “A major obstacle to the speedy dispensation of justice in this regard is that electoral offences are not time-bound as is the case with post-election offences through the tribunals. Furthermore, they are solely prosecuted by the Magistrate and State High Courts in the jurisdiction where the alleged offences are committed,” the INEC chief told the gathering.

“No priority attention is given to such cases as the courts deal with a variety of other cases. Consequently, electoral offences are carried over from one General Election to another which may sometimes affect the diligent prosecution of the cases. It is therefore imperative to renew our call for the creation of the Electoral Offences Tribunal that have a specific jurisdiction and limited timeframe for the speedy dispensation of cases.”

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Bemoaning the delay in the justice delivery system, citing the conviction of a returning officer in Akwa Ibom after six years in court, the INEC boss, said: “The recent successful prosecution of a Returning Officer in Akwa Ibom State is a case in point.

“The Commission has been diligently pursuing the case which arose from the 2019 General Election. In this particular case, it took nearly six years to achieve the successful prosecution at the trial court.

“Through our collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) cases involving 774 alleged offenders from the 2023 General Election are being prosecuted. So far, successful prosecutions have been recorded in Kebbi and Kogi States while our collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on vote-buying has yielded similar results in Lagos, Kwara, and Gombe States. Yet, many cases are still pending.”

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Again, terrorists attack Sokoto, kidnap 10 worshippers at a mosque

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A mosque in Bushe community, Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State, fell into the hands of bandits on Friday, after which 10 worshippers including the Imam were spirited away, adding to growing cases of terrorist attacks.

Channels Television reports that the gunmen invaded the mosque on Thursday while worshippers were performing their early morning Subhi prayer, quoting residents as saying that the gunmen had been molesting the people of the community for some time now, even with the presence of security agents.

Ahmed Rufai, spokesman of the Sokoto State Police Command, who confirmed the attack on Friday, said the police authorities were working with other security agencies to rescue the abducted victims.

A member of the Sokoto State House of Assembly, representing the Sabon Birni B state Constituency who also confirmed the attack, commended the security agencies for their timely intervention.

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