Family members trade blame as septuagenarian, three children die of suspected food poisoning

The death of four family members, including a septuagenarian, Mrs Halimatu Yusuf, her son, and two grandchildren after allegedly consuming a poisonous cassava flour meal, popularly known as lafun, in Kwara State, has left two families at daggers drawn.

The tragedy, which specifically took place in Eruda, a community in the Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State, has thrown the victims’ family members and neighbours into deep mourning.

Saturday PUNCH gathered that the elderly woman, a poultry trader at Oja Tun-Tun in Baboko Market, Ilorin, purchased the cassava flour from one of her customers and used it to prepare a meal for her family, unaware that it allegedly contained poisonous substances.

After consuming the meal, the 75-year-old reportedly died on Monday, along with her 33-year-old son, Kamaldeen.

The grandchildren, who lost their lives are seven-year-old Khalid and Ridwanullahi, 14, a student of United Secondary School, Taiwo Isale, Ilorin, Kwara.

Our correspondent gathered that the grandchildren both succumbed to the suspected poisoning on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

Saturday PUNCH also learnt that four other grandchildren of the deceased septuagenarian have been hospitalised and are battling for their lives at the Kwara State University Teaching Hospital.

The state government, while confirming the tragic events, said the community had been placed on high alert regarding food consumption.

According to the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Amina El-Imam, the deaths were reportedly linked to the consumption of cassava flour used in preparing a local delicacy, popularly known as Amala, suspected to have contained poisonous substances.

El-Imam stated that the entire health team of the ministry visited the community after receiving the report of the tragedy that befell Yusuf’s family.

“Upon arrival, the claim was that there was an instance of food poisoning, where the 75-year-old woman fell ill and died after consuming Amala.

“Unfortunately, her son and grandchildren also consumed the same food, fell ill, and died. They were taken to the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, where they passed away,” she added.

El-Imam noted that the deaths could be linked to the consumption of the cassava flour meal, explaining that those who consumed yam flour, a local delicacy called Amala, without mixing it with the suspected poisoned cassava flour were unaffected.

She, however, lamented that “those who consumed a mixture of both the cassava and yam flour fell ill, and some eventually died. Some are recovering and, hopefully, with intensive medical treatment, should fully recover.

“It was observed that the residence was in a location where personal and environmental hygiene was not optimal. This is a case of chemical food poisoning, potentially due to under-processed cassava used in the production of lafun. We have another four cases recovering at the moment, in addition to the four we unfortunately lost,” she added.

However, gathered that the tragic development sparked a disagreement between two families, Opele and Olokuta, where the deceased septuagenarian had been married.

According to the findings, the two families vehemently disagreed on the source of the alleged poisonous food that the victims consumed.

Some family members argued that the deaths were caused by the cassava flour meal prepared by Yusuf at the Olokuta family house in the Eruda area of Ilorin, where the deceased had her last child (the late Kamaldeen) and lived.

Others contended that the food prepared at the Opele compound, off Taiwo Isale Road, the family house of the deceased’s first husband, where she had most of her children, was responsible for the tragedy.

Though the cassava meal was consumed on Saturday, the woman and her grandchildren were said to have attended a Quran graduation held by one of her children at the Opele compound, on Sunday, where the victims consumed the food alleged to have caused their deaths.

Karimu Akanbi, head of the Olokuta family house, where the late Yusuf had her last child, Kamaldeen, and who was also among the deceased victims, told our correspondent on Thursday that although the deceased prepared Amala for her children, the poisoned meal was not the one prepared and eaten in the Olokuta compound.

Akanbi, who punctuated his words with Quranic verses, said, “She was not the only person who consumed the cassava flour meal; other people here in our family also ate from the meal, and nothing happened to them.

“They did not even complain of stomach pain, but Almighty Allah alone knows the truth about what happened.

“We learned that they also attended a Quran graduation elsewhere on Sunday. The poison might have been contained in the food taken at that place because we also learned that some other people at the place where the graduation was held were admitted to various hospitals.

“The government should also examine the food that was served at the graduation ceremony because the poison affected many people in the area.”

Describing the late Yusuf as a lovely and caring woman, Akanbi said she was his late brother’s wife, adding that the septuagenarian was an easy-going person who didn’t quarrel with people and had only one child for his brother.

“The only child, Kamaldeen, died with her. God knows the truth about what caused her death, but I want to tell you that her death was not caused by the consumption of a cassava flour meal taken in this house,” he clarified.

However, one of Yusuf’s children, Abdulfatai, also known as Abdulfalaki, said his mother’s ordeal started on Sunday when she complained of stomach ache, started purging and vomiting a black substance.

In a bid to rescue her, Abdulfatai said she was taken to a private hospital, only to also find out that Kamaldeen was also complaining of the same ailment.

According to him, the septuagenarian was referred to the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, where her son was earlier admitted, adding that both mother and son died on Monday within 20 minutes and were buried the same day at the Ilorin Muslim cemetery.

Abdulfatai, who is the Imam of Asmau Bintu Abubakre Mosque, Ilorin, said he believed the four victims ate the poisonous cassava meal since they were all vomiting black substances and purging before their deaths.

“The usual meal of Yusuf was Amala, and all the children, including the grandchildren, used to eat from her pot,” he said.

Recalling the motherly role played by his late mother, Abdulfatai said, “I cannot forget her because she sold her black-and-white television to pay my WAEC fee when there was no one to assist me. Her death touched us as human beings, but we have to accept the will of God.

“I want to appeal to the Kwara State Ministry of Health to expedite action on the cassava flour and soup samples, and other items taken to the laboratory for examination. They should tell us where the poison came from,” Abdulfatai pleaded.

The press secretary of the Kwara State Hospital Management Board, which currently manages the KWASUTH, where the four admitted children were being treated, Halima Sulu-Gambari, confirmed to our correspondent on Thursday that the children were responding to treatment.

She said one of the four children was discharged on Wednesday after doctors certified her free of the poisonous substances, while the other three were still on admission.

Sulu-Gambari said, “I have checked on the children. They are now in Ward 3 and feeling much better. Yes, one girl was discharged on Wednesday, leaving three of them in the ward.”