Five members of the same family; including an elderly woman and her four grandchildren have been reported dead in Gaga community of Akure metropolis.
They died mysteriously within days after consuming pap.
According to Ondo State owned Hope Newspaper, the incident which occurred few days ago at Atayese street, Gaga area of Oke Aro in Akure, was uncovered on Thursday, October 3, 2024.
A family source identified as Bola, told the publication that the elderly woman who was their paternal grandmother died suddenly and the family members took her to the mortuary.
She explained that they were not suspicious of anyone or anything causing her death as she was advanced in age. Hence, they believed her passing to be natural.
“After her death, my sister and her husband had gone 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 ages seven , five and three while their cousin was 10,” the source said.
She explained that as soon as the children took the pap, they all began to writhe in pain and the parents who were alarmed at the sudden and strange development rushed the children to the State Specialist Hospital, Akure, now known as UNIMED Teaching Hospital.
“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”
Our source revealed that the family blames the doctors that they met on duty for the eventual death of the victims, saying that they were still alive although in pain on the first day that they were brought to the hospital.
“The doctors on duty were Corps Members. I heard one of them making calls and asking the person on the other end, how many milligrams he should administer to the patient. Right before us, one of the doctors was panicking that he did not know what to administer to one of the children assigned to him.The four children spent three days in the hospital before they died. They would have made it if they were promptly attended to. “
When contacted on telephone, the head of the family, simply identified as Mr A. Egunjobi also confirmed the unfortunate incident and hinted that the family also heard that they ate from fishes in a pond in the house during their visit which was said to have been contaminated.
The mysterious deaths unreported to the police, victims buried without investigation and autopsy.
The mother of the deceased children, Mrs Bukola Adeola was almost incoherent with grief and could not speak with the publication when she was contacted at their residence at Afunbiowo Estate in Akure.
A source however, confirmed that the children had since been buried.
She also said that the family did not report the case to the police.
She also said that the parents of the deceased did not suspect anyone as the house of the grandmother where they took the pap was secluded and fenced.
When asked if the family would not want to unravel the mystery behind the children’s death, she retorted “what is there to unravel again? The unfortunate incident has happened and there is no need keeping little children in the mortuary. So they have since been laid to rest”
She, however, said that the corpse of the grandmother was still at the mortuary.
The spokesperson of the Ondo State Police Command, Mrs Funmi Odunlami, corroborated the fact that the incident was not reported at any police station.
