A tragic incident in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, has claimed the life of one person due to complications from consuming allegedly poisoned cassava flour used to make Amala, a renowned South West meal.
The incident unfolded in the Temidire Atoyebi area along Ajaawa Road in Ogbomoso, where a family of six consumed the meal for dinner on Wednesday night.
The family, consisting of Mrs. Victoria Paul Adewole (the grandmother), her four children, and a granddaughter, consumed the food and later experienced discomfort.
It was discovered that the family prepared the amala by extracting it from cassava peels, which they ground and turned into flour.
This was due to their inability to purchase yam or cassava flour.
According to undisclosed sources, the distress call from the six family members caught the attention of neighbors, who rushed in and took them to a private hospital in the Ogbomoso Baptist High School area, where the granddaughter reportedly died.
They were taken to Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital in Ogbomoso, where medical personnel are presently battling to save the lives of the remaining family members.
A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “However, one of the children managed to disclose that it was cassava peels that they ground and made into flour, which they prepared as amal, since they could not afford to buy yam or cassava flour. The complication from the peels, which could have been poisoned or contaminated, resulted in the death of the youngest granddaughter, whose immune system might be very low.
“The mother and her other four children are still battling with life in the hospital. We plead with kind-hearted people to please assist the family in whatever way they can so that fatality is no longer recorded among them.”
Professor Olawale Olakulehin, the Chief Medical Director of LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, confirmed the incident and stated that four out of the five remaining family members are still responding well to treatment in the hospital.
He emphasized that one of the victims remains in critical condition.
“The one that gave up died before getting to LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso.
“As of this afternoon, four of the five undergoing treatment are in stable condition. However, one of them is in critical condition. I have just been updated.”
Kanyi Daily recalls that the Oyo State Government had sealed a new-generation church located in Golden Estate, Oluyole, Ibadan, the state capital.
