3 die after consuming ogogoro in Ondo

Akure—DETECTIVES from Ondo State Police Command are working round the
clock to unravel the mysterious death of three persons after consuming a local
gin, popularly known as ogogoro at Oka Motor Park in Ondo town, Ondo State.
This is coming as the state government said last week that it had curtailed the
outbreak of a strange disease which caused the death of 23 persons at Irele
area of the state.
The government said the 23 who died at Irele consumed poisonous ethanol and
banned the consumption of ogogoro across the state.
Vanguard gathered that the deceased persons in this latest incident included a
member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, in the park,
an electrician and another person working in the motor park.
It was learned that the three persons consumed the local gin at the park and
immediately complained of stomach upset. Other members of the union
reportedly applied local herbs to calm them down, but they soon became
unconscious.
An eyewitness said they died before they could be rushed to a nearby hospital
in the town, adding that the deaths were mysterious as other members of the
union usually drank the same ogogoro.
Seller flees
Vanguard gathered that the seller of the ogogoro had fled the park for fear of
arrest by policemen, who reportedly stormed the motor park to investigate the
incident.
The eyewitness said consum-ption of ogogoro at motor parks by members of
NURTW was a daily occurrence.
It was also gathered that the deceased had been buried according to Muslim
rites without undergoing any autopsy to confirm the real cause of their death.
Contacted, the police image maker, Wole Ogodo, said: “When I called the DPO of
the Enuowa Police Division in Ondo, he said nobody had reported the case at
the police station, that they too heard it as rumour in the town.
“We have commenced investigation and after the investigation we shall let the
whole world know what actually happened to the said three persons.”
We ‘re in control— Health Commissioner
It would be recalled that the Health Commissioner, Dr. Dayo Adeyanju, last
weekend said the state government has successfully curtailed the ethanol
poison at Irele area of the state.
He said the sensitization efforts of government had yielded results on the
consumption of the local gin.
The commissioner added that both National Agency for Food and Drug
Administration and Control, NAFDAC, and SON had intervened to standardize
the brewing of the local gin and regulate it’s production.
Adeyanju said: “Those that died as a result of the consumption of the local gin
are the chronic drinkers, while those that just tasted it have since regained their
sights.”
According to him, a high concentration of the ethanol poison was discovered in
the system of those that died as a result of its consumption.
Adeyanju pointed out that the ban on the consumption of ogogoro in the state
still subsists, while government would deal decisively with those who flouted
the directive.