The people of Woji Community in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State said they have begun a search for a man who allegedly presented a killer gin to a group of persons in an inn.
At least, 38 persons have reportedly died after allegedly consuming a local gin popularly known as kaikai or ogogoro in an inn where dog meat is sold.
The incident, which happened on Sunday (last week), resulted in the taking of some of those who consumed the gin to nearby hospitals.
But the Community Development Committee Chairman of Woji, Dr. Brain Ogbonda, said they were working round the clock to identify the man that brought in the killer drink.
Ogbonda, who is also the Secretary of Woji Town Council, explained they learnt that the suspect was not an indigene of the area, even as he added that report had it that the man came from one of the states in the western part of the country.
“We are still trying to identify the man said to be from Ogun State who brought the drink. Nobody has seen the man, we are still investigating. As the CDC chairman, I was instructed by the community to follow up the issue.
“In the course of our investigation, I was told three different stories, firstly that somebody from Ogun State came and said that that he was now a king and the people there crowned him a chief and that they poured libation that Sunday. On Monday, people began to die.
“Again, we were told that a man who came from another state brought in the gin claiming he had been made a chief in his hometown. Everybody in the inn rejoiced with him and drank the gin and ate dog meat, but that the man himself did not drink.
“Another story was that they used the gin in cooking the dog meat. But this sounds unbelievable.”
The Woji CDC chairman expressed fear that nobody could ascertain the number of people who drank the local gin and ate the dog meat, adding that the death toll was already increasing.
He appealed to the state government to intervene in the matter and get to the root of the ugly development that had given the community a sleepless night.
He claimed that some youths, who were irked by the development in the community, had razed the inn where the gin was presented to those who drank it.
However, the Rivers State Government through the Director of Public Health in Ministry of Health, Nnanna Oyekwere, disclosed that preliminary investigation showed that the deaths recorded were caused by locally made gin contrary to speculations that victims died after consuming dog.
“Initially, they said the people ate dog meat, but further investigations had shown that somebody sold some local drink to them. It is those who took the drink that are having issues and not those who ate the dog meat.
“Our health team in conjunction with that of the local government area is already there at Woji going from house to house of those that died to get more information,” he added.
The River State Ministry of Health through its Permanent Secretary, Somieari Harry, had on Friday confirmed the death of 38 persons suspected to have consumed the deadly local gin.
The state government had also banned the sale of local gin in any part of Rivers with a view to putting an end to the deaths recorded within the past six days.
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