Osun state gov. Rauf Aregbesola |
No fewer than three people have reportedly died in Obokun, Obokun Local Government Area of Osun state after eating yam flour popularly known as Amala.
Four other persons have also been hospitalized for the same cause.
A woman identified as Mrs Kehinde Falana, a staff of Obokun Local Government was one of the deceased while the other two are yet to be identified.
The remains of the deceased have been deposited at the morgue of the Osun State General Hospital at Asubiaro in Osogbo, for autopsy aimed at unraveling the true cause of their death.
Other people that ate from the food were rushed to Our Lady of Fatimah Hospital at Jaleoyemi area in Osogbo but the doctors at the hospital said their cases could not be managed and referred them to the Wesley Guild Hospital of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital in Ilesa for comprehensive treatment.
Speaking on the development, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Rafiu Isamotu disclosed that necessary steps are already being explored to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident.
He advised the residents of the town to remain calm.
According to him preliminary findings revealed that the family members had been eating from the same yam flour in the past weeks and that the poison in the food could be in the stew.
He was at the hospital alongside the Director of Public Health, Dr Adepoju Gbenga, who maintained that experts have been deployed to the house where the family members ate the food and that sample would be taken to laboratory for further investigation.