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Animashaun Salman
Seven members of a family – two wives and five children – died of suspected food poisoning in Kaura village, Yabo Local Government Area of Sokoto State. The head of the bereaved family, Mallam Umar Yabo, speaks to ANIMASHAHUN SALMAN about the tragedy
What is your name and what do you do for a living?
My name is Mallam Umar Yabo. I am the immediate elder brother of the man who lost his two wives and five children. I am the head of the family. I am 47 years old.
How do you people feel losing seven members of your family, two wives, and five children, on the same day?
It was a very terrible experience, which one should not even wish for his enemy. In fact, the past few days have been the darkest period not just for our family but for the entire Yabo community. It was a very painful thing and if not for God, one would have lost his sanity but I give God the glory in the end.
There was a rumour that the deceased died of food poisoning; can you shed more light on the cause of their death?
Well, we have to accept what happened as an act of God, which no one can challenge. To us, we cannot actually fathom or identify what exactly led to their death. All I can tell you is that the food, which was made of corn and prepared by the same women the previous night, was what all the members of the family, including the same wives, ate before we all went to bed the night before. They kept the remaining food on the roof in front of the house for fresh air. When they woke up in the morning, they brought down the remaining food and prepared it with a fresh one, which the seven of the deceased ate.
To our utmost shock, three of the seven people died shortly after the meal while we rushed the remaining four to the nearby hospital where doctors confirmed their death to us. We cannot attribute their death to poison or anything because that was not the first time we would preserve our leftover food in such a manner.
Do you suspect any foul play somewhere?
Like I said earlier, I don’t believe the food was poisoned by anyone or suspect that someone has a hand in their death. Their death can only be attributed to the will of Allah and we have accepted our fate.
A sample of the food they ate was taken for a scientific test; is the result out?
Yes, the remnants of the food was taken for a test to ascertain the problem or what really went wrong but as of today (Thursday), we are yet to receive the result. Be that as it may, whatever the results from the hospital, it doesn’t change what has happened. We have lost seven members of the family and we really want their souls to rest.
When and how did you discover the deaths?
We were all at home when it happened. It started with one of the younger children complaining of stomach ache and before we knew it, the problem spread to three other children. We applied our known local medication but we saw no improvement, instead, the three other persons who ate the food also started complaining. As we were planning to take them to the hospital, three of them suddenly died. So, we decided to rush the others to the hospital. It was unfortunate that on getting to the hospital, the remaining four people were confirmed dead and that left us with no choice but to believe that whatever killed them must have come from the food they ate.
How old were the two women and the children that died?
The two wives were of the same age bracket but different months of birth. The two of them, named Yan Sabo and Hassana Sabo, were 37 years of age as of the time of their death.
The children, the eldest of them was Aminu Sabo, who was aged 14 at the time of his death; followed by Zainab Sabo, who was 13 years old; then Abubakar Sabo, who was 10 years old. The others were Ahmad Sabo and Yan Alhaji, a girl, both of whom were eight years old as of the time of their death.
Have they been buried?
Yes, all of them were buried immediately they were confirmed dead by the doctors at the hospital. As Muslims, we don’t keep dead bodies; so, we buried them all immediately.
That means no autopsy was performed on the bodies before burial.
Not at all; no autopsy was performed on their bodies. The only test I know of was the one done on them at the hospital before they were confirmed dead.
Remember, I told you that three of the victims died at home while we rushed the four others to the hospital where a series of tests was done on them and their blood samples taken before their unfortunate death the following morning.
So, in short, there was no autopsy done on them by anyone.
Does your brother, who is bereaved, have other wives and children apart from those that died?
The two wives have gone while they left behind three little children, including an infant, who is still breastfeeding and couldn’t have eaten from the food.
The two other children are between the ages of three and five and both of them were sick and had no appetite to eat on the day of the incident.
Have you received any support from the government?
Yes, especially the authorities of Yabo Local Government Area. When we rushed them to the Yabo General Hospital, almost all that was required were provided by the local government in Yabo here.
Also, after the unfortunate incident, authorities from both the local and state governments came to visit and condole with us. They asked for the remnant of the food eaten by the deceased and we handed it over. They said they would like to go and check the cause of their deaths, but as of today, we have not gotten feedback from them.
On what we want from them, we have already accepted our fate but we want the government to help society with more enlightenment. On our part, we have realised that putting food outside without covering is dangerous. Some people said maybe the food was contaminated by geckoes, some said it might be a snake or whatever that spit on the food before daybreak, but all in all, we accept our mistake and we will not let such repeat itself. I believe government at all levels should sensitise the populace to the need to be more hygienic, especially with what we consume.
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