By Davies Iheamnachor
WOJI—HAIR-RAISING particulars of how at least 38 residents
of Woji and other communities in Obio/Akpo, Bonny and
Gokhana Local Government Areas, Rivers State, breathe their
last breath, 24-72 hours after drinking suspected toxic locally
brewed gin, popularly known as Kai Kai at a dog meat joint
have emerged.
Proprietor of dog meat joint, Mr. Friday Dickson, purported to
have laced the delicacy with killer- seasoning, hotly denied
the allegation. He spoke to Niger Delta Voice at the Woji
Police Divisional Headquarters, where he is under custody.
Irate youths razed his restaurant, but Dickson, who has been
in the business for over a decade, recalled that a man called
Chikobi and Chiefo brought the local gin to his restaurant
that Sunday allegedly to celebrate his new chieftaincy title.
Curiously, the celebrant did not drink
the gin he brought. The wife of one of the victims corroborated
Dickson’s story. The
mysterious Chikobi,
said to be a Yoruba
man from Ogun state,
is on the run after the
episode but Dickson
said he could
recognize him if he
sees him. There is
also a puzzle on how
the killer-gin got to
Bonny and Gokhana
local governments.
Chikobi came to Woji
but there is no information on who took the gin to
aforementioned two local governments.
Except he left Woji for the Bonny and Gokhana after the
“celebration of death” or they were other merchants of
death. Investigation by Niger Delta Voice revealed that many
of the victims expired wrestling with death, vomiting and
complaining of abdominal pain. Some lost their vision, cried
of chest and waist pains.
Jarry fought death
Niger Delta Voice witnessed the death of a victim, Mr. Jarry,
who passed away inside a tricycle that was conveying him
home. The poison apparently reacted at the point, as he
started struggling with unseen forces at the back seat of the
Keke NAPEP. The panic-stricken tricycle driver took to his
heels. Our reporter saw him go to meet his Maker.
Akpan left church to dine with the devil.
The death of Engr Joseph Akpan is pathetic. He left a Church
service on the ill-fated Sunday against the counsel of his
wife and a church member to partake in the drink at the dog
meat joint. Moreover, after the drinking spree, he refused to
confess to his apprehensive wife, a nurse, for possible
medical assistance.
His bereaved wife, Mrs. Pauline Apkan, “On Monday, I was
called that a man is dying within Mini-Woji and that the
person drank kai kai. When I got there, I told the people to
take him to the hospital that I cannot handle such case and
my husband was having pity for the man the way he was
shouting and rolling on the floor. Later the man died.
“I remembered that on Sunday, somebody called my husband
while we were in the church and he left me in the church to
honour the call. A man close to him in the church asked him
to wait until after service then he can go and answer the call,
but he refused. Maybe they told him they want to start.
“Earlier on Friday, he told me that there is a man they gave
chieftaincy title in his community and he is coming to that
restaurant to celebrate it. I told him that he should not go
that I do not like him going to that restaurant often, but he
started shouting at me, that is it because he told me? I said
the man may poison him, he said do I think the man will
bring poison to all the people there,” Mrs. Akpan asserted.
Her words: “So when the issue of that his friend, Fabian,
that just died and other three people came up and all relating
to the people that went to the bar, I asked him to tell me the
truth if he went to that bar to drink, but he denied and said
he only went there to charge his phone.”
Too late, he died in my hands ‑Wife
She continued, “Later, one man came and told me to look for
an antidote for my husband that he met my husband drinking
at that restaurant on Sunday. On Tuesday morning, he woke
up saying that he cannot see again. I said but it is daybreak,
he continued shouting that he cannot see.
“Soon, he said his waist and chest. That his chest is very hot
I called my pastor he said I should pray for him. He started
rolling and groaning, then he died in my hands. “The poison is
not from the dog meat, it is that kai kai they drank. Some
people who came here said people who bought only dog
meat are not dying that it is only those who drank the kai
kai,” she added.
I know nothing about the local gin- Dog meat joint operator
Owner of the dog meat restaurant, Mr. Dickson, told Niger
Delta Voice: “I have been in this community doing this job
and I did not kill anybody. That Sunday, I was inside my
restaurant busy with other things I do not know what
happened outside. “I only heard that one man that use to
come to my restaurant, he is from Yoruba, brought kai kai for
all the people there to drink. Me I do not know anything
about it.”
Asked if he used other special condiments in preparing
penultimate Sunday‘s delicacy, Dickson said, “I used all the
ingredients that I have been using since my 10 years in Woji.
I do not know the man who brought the drink. But I think
they use to call him Chikobi and Chiefo, if I see him, I can
recognise him but I do not know where he lives.”
Sorrow in Woji
Woji and other affected communities have been mourning
since the incident. Now, all shops that trade on locally made
gin in the area have closed down. The people were still in
deep shock when we visited Woji. They were concerned
about identifying all those that drank the deadly gin at the
dog meat restaurant.
How death started
Community Development Committee, CDC, chair of Woji
community, Chief (Dr) Brain Ogbonda, who also doubles as
the Secretary, Woji Town Council, said: “On Monday, we
received a report that three people have died in the
community after consuming dog meat at a dog meat
restaurant on Mini-Woji Road. Tuesday, the death toll
increased to five, so that Tuesday, the community had Woji
Town executive meeting.
“As the CDC chair, I was instructed by the community to
follow up the issue. In course of our investigations, we heard
three different stories, firstly, that somebody from Ogun state
came that he is now a king and the people there crowned
him a chief and poured libation that Sunday.
Monday, death started.
“Secondly, we were told that a man came from Ogun state
with gin (kai kai) saying that they made him a chief in his
state and all of them that were in that restaurant ate dog
meat and drank the gin, but that the man himself did not
drink.
“Thirdly, that they used the gin in cooking the dog meat and
this sounds unbelievable. On Monday when I was at Mini-
Woji, I met one of our daughters, Otunahia Chioma. She
greeted me, that same Monday night, she started vomiting
and then gave up.” Chief Ogbonda added, “Same Monday, I
also saw one Umoh from Akwa Ibom state whose wife is a
nurse, he died after awhile. So far, we have recorded 11
deaths.
“Some of the names I have here are Mr. Friday from Akwa
Ibom, Miss Otunahia from Woji, Mr. Jackson Adams
(popularly known as Scatter), he is a carpenter from Akwa
Ibom, Mr. Jerry from Omoku in Rivers state, Umoh from Akwa
Ibom and Chief Amadi Odum’s gate man also died.”
Our worries
He asserted, “Our fear now is that we do not know how many
persons ate and drank the gin. The owner of the restaurant,
Mr. Friday Dickson, a member of Man O War is now at Woji
Police Divisional Headquarters. We are still trying to identify
the man from Ogun state who brought the drink. Nobody has
seen the man, we are still investigating.”
He disclosed, “Mr. Friday Dickson has been in this business
of selling dog meat in our place for some years now. Those
who eat dog meat in our community patronize him. We are
even lucky that most of our youths who eat dog meat did not
go there that Sunday. “One of our daughters was unlucky to
be one of the victims. The relatives of most of the victims
have taken their corpses and probably buried them and some
of them are in the hospital.
“This is the first time this community is experiencing this
kind of ugly situation. We cannot say it is the dog meat, the
gin or the coronation per se, but we want the government to
wage into the issue and find out the real cause of the death.
“The gods of our land are not angry that a stranger is
crowned a king in our land because the coronation they did
was just out of joke. We are a developed people and we do
not believe in those fetish things,” he stated.
His words: “We cannot go to juju to find out the cause of the
strange deaths because this generation has gone beyond
that. Christianity has taken over; we will only investigate
scientifically and come out with the truth.”
Illicit gin smuggled into community
The community leader said, “We suspect that the same gin
that killed people in Ondo state was smuggled into our
village. Some of the people there have confirmed that those
who are dying are those that drank the gin. That gin should
be the cause of this death.” He added, “And for the man who
brought the drink to refuse to take the drink and disappeared
till now should show that he imported the dangerous drink
into our community. The man is wicked; he does not reside
here because we have tried to know whom he is and where
he resides.
“He is a visitor to the restaurant and decided to bewitch the
community. The owner of the restaurant should tell us more
about the man; although it is not every customer that he
should know his house.”
Police nonchalant until death escalated
Similarly, the secretary of Woji Youth Association, Mr. Daniel
Adolphus, said, “The strange deaths on the streets baffles
every one of us. The story we heard is that some people
drank local gin on Sunday. The people are Ben, Marshal,
Jackson, Fabian, Ojiboy, Chika, Jerry who just died, Otunahia
who is from Woji here and Mr. Akpan.
“We as youths, we have tried in our own capacity to see how
we can assist them. We have also announced that anyone
who visited the restaurant last Sunday should declare himself
for help. There is one funny thing that happened, when the
number of death was about three, I called the police to come
and assist us, but they said since my relative is not there, I
should forget about the matter. However, when the death
increased to 11, the police came into the issue.
“When they came, they said they have gone to the scene of
the incident that they did not see anybody, I replied them
that if they had come earlier, there would have been remedy
to the situation. We call on the government to send medical
teams to conduct some tests so that we can know what led
to this whole thing,” he asserted.
…condemns burning of dog meat joint
He said, “Some angry youths from the community have
already burnt down the restaurant, it is condemnable. That is
the more reason we needed the police to arrest the
situation. Now there is no gin or the dog meat from the
restaurant to be used as sample.”
No sample yet for laboratory test
The Rivers State Centre for Disease Control has confirmed
the death of 10 persons in Woji area. Director of the
department, Obed Rowland Whyte, said one of the victims
was female.
“We are advising the general public not to panic but should
refrain from drinking locally made gin from unidentified
sources pending the determination of the actual cause of the
death. The report we are getting is that nine people are now
dead, including one female and eight males resulting from
the consumption of gin.
“The symptoms presented are similar with that of Ondo state
poison, abdominal pain, vomiting, loss of vision. Already we
are tracing a victim that is still alive. A sample of the drink
will be taken for laboratory test. However, how to get the
drink for the test is even a problem because right now, the
community youths have burnt down the restaurant. “If we
can get one of the victims who still have clear vision, we can
get a lead into what happened. We are doing our best to
control the situation,” he said.
Local gin, not dog meat caused deaths
Director of Public Health in the Rivers State Ministry of
Health, Nnanna Onyekwere, said preliminary investigation
showed locally made gin caused the deaths and not dog
meat as being speculated. He said the ministry has taken
proactive measures to investigate the cause.
“Initially, they said the people ate dog meat, but further
investigations have shown that somebody sold some local
drink to them. It is those that took the drink that are having
issues, not those, who ate the dog meat. Our health team in
conjunction with that of the local government council is
already there at Woji going from house to house of those
that died to get more information,” he said.
Last Friday, the Rivers State Ministry of Health confirmed the
death of 38 persons in relation to the illicit gin in the state.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Somieari Isaac
Harry, told reporters that 38 persons have died in relation to
the consumption of an illicit gin.
He said 10 people died in Woji, Obio/Akpo local govern-ment
area, 17 persons in Bonny local government area, 11 in
Gokhana local government area, totaling 38, clarifying that
the deaths were not from the consumption of dog meat.
Consequently, Rivers state placed a ban on the selling and
drinking of illicit gin in the state. Dr. Onyekwere explained
that the ban was to stop further death, while a task force to
check offenders with the assistance of security agencies is
already in place.
Vanguard news today.
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