A family of five, including an
unborn baby, have died after consuming a meal made
with the Ewedu vegetable, or known as Jute in the
northern parts of Nigeria.
Ex-police inspector Peter
Dauda, 43, his pregnant wife Dorothy, 35, their son Godwin, 9,
and daughter Patience, 6, all ate their meal prepared with jute one
night and went to bed. The unused portion of the jute was spread on a container
overnight. The following day, they used the remaining jute to prepare a
fresh pot of soup which they ate that night, but shortly after the meal,
they all began to complain of stomach ache. They were rushed to the
hospital where they all died one after the other.
The two dogs belonging to the
family also died after eating the meal, Sunday Sun reports. The incident
shocked residents of the Dushai village along the Kagoro-Manchok road, in
Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
Narrating the sad incident,
President of Dushai Community Development Association, Mr. Daniel Duniya Bosan
said: "The family had prepared and eaten the jute leaves in the evening of
Wednesday, September 6, 2017 and went to bed without any problem. But the
remaining leaves were spread on a container and preserved for consumption the
following day. Trouble started on Thursday, September 7, shortly after
they had eaten the vegetable soup. All the family members started complaining
of stomach aches the following day, which was Friday, and neighbours rushed
them to a nearby hospital. The jute leaves was suspected to have been
laced with a poisonous substance by unknown persons. The first family member to
die was their six-year-old daughter, Patience, who gave up the same Friday,
while Dorothy, Godwin, and their father, Inspector Dauda, died on Saturday,
September 9."
Kaduna State Deputy Governor
Barnabas Bantex paid a condolence visit to the community. While in the
community, Bantex appealed for calm, particularly from the youths and urged
them to shun any rumor relating to the death of members of the family.
He said: "I am appealing to
you to shun any rumor relating to the death of this family members because such
rumor is capable of escalating the already charged atmosphere in your
community."
Anglican Bishop of Kafanchan
Diocese, Reverend Markus Dogo also condoled the community and appealed to the
people, "to commit everything to God and continue in fervent prayers for
God to avert such incident in future."
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