'We bin tink say na just monkey tail' - Di local alcoholic drink wey bring death to a community

Thirty-four years old okada rider Elo Moses bin don finish work dat day wen e decide to go buy alcohol with im friends.

Rain bin fall dat day and evriwia cold, so e bin wan keep imsef warm bifor e go return back home.

E visit im usual spot wit two of im friends, wia e buy one locally prepared alcoholic drink, e drink am dia. Few minutes later, e begin dey react. Dem rush am go hospital and na for dia e die.

Im younger sister, Abigail wey dey wit am moments bifor e die say Moses bin tell am say e be like na di drink wey im take na im worry am.

"Na okada work my broda dey do, rain fall dat day, e kon go buy drink for di place. E go wit im three friends, two of dem buy di drink but di third friend no get money, so e no buy.

"As my broda drink di tin, e sleep for chair immediately. Be like dat tin don dey affect im bodi but e no tok," Abigail tok.

Skip content and continue reading
Nigerian community wia pipo dey live inside darkness for over 16 years
22nd January 2024
Nafdac find methanol and cannabis for inside di herbal drinks wey kpai 48 pipo for Ondo state
19th September 2026
Wetin we know about deaths of residents for Ondo State as authorities launch investigation
10th September 2026
End of content
Moses Eno dey look di cameraWia dis foto come from,Abigail Moses
Wetin we call dis foto,Moses Eno and im friend die afta dem drink di locally mixed alcohol.
Abigail explain say na im broda friend kon later call dia mama bifor dem kon rush am go hospital. But she say her broda no quick tell dem say na local alcohol e mix take.

She say na wen her broda wan die e later confess say e be like say na di drink wey e take na im affect am, but by dat time, notin wey dem fit do again.

"Dem give am injection, give am drugs. By evening, e no fit stand again and anytin wey e take, e go vomit am. Im belle kon big, im legs don cold, e kon be like say e no fit see."

Wen Abigail dey describe di kain pesin wey her broda be, she say di death of her broda affect dia family afta e leave three pikin.

She say her broda na di only sibling wey she get but now wey e don die, dem dey struggle to feed di wife and di children wey e leave behind.

"I miss my broda, im death dey affect me. Dis na di first time wey I go see dis kain tin, make pesin dey die like fowl, if e no happun to me, I no go believe."

Moses no be di only pesin wey go die after drinking dat local alcohol mix.

For September 2026, dozens of pipo begin die suddenly for some communities for Ondo State. E go later dey revealed say no be natural deaths, na sometin kill dem.

Dis deaths dey recorded across Odigbo local govment Area of Ondo State, South-West Nigeria, wit multiple cases of serious sickness illness and death wey dey traced to say di affected pipo consume locally prepared alcoholic and herbal concoctions.

Of all di ova six affected communities, Araromi-Obu, community wey dey share boundary wit Ogun state, na im get di highest number of deaths, according to authorities.

For Araromi-Obu alone, ova 11 die instantly wit ova 50 hospitalised.

Police investigations go later find say na one substance dey kill di pipo afta dem drink di locally prepared alcohol mix, dem confam say di substance dey mixed wit methanol.

Di National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) say dem record total of 182 cases wit 48 deaths confamed.

Na ova 100 pipo dey hospitalised as five pesin go totally blind.

One month afta, BBC News Pidgin go Araromi-Obu, to speak wit di pipo on ground, wey de affected to tell di tori of how dis kain tin hapun.

We speak to survivors from di community and families wey lose dia loved ones.

'For my family, I lose two brodas'
One of di sad tori wey we also discova for Araromi-Obu na two brodas wey come do wedding for di town and afta, dem decide to stay for sometime, dem die afta dem drink di locally mixed alcohol.

Adesebolu Adenikinju speak wit pain for im voice afta as e remember di loss of im two brodas (Adedayo Adenikinju, Kola Adenikinju), wey die on di same day.

E say dem no know say di seller dey mix di alcohol wit oda tins but na wen di deaths begin dey hapun bifor dem find out say e dey mix some kain tins wit di drink.

"We lose plenti pipo. For my family, I lose two brodas, same papa. Di family no dey happy at all, na big loss.

E be di first of my papa, e just come back to di community. E come do wedding and e stay behind, as per say e be popular pesin, pipo come greet am. We do meeting and dem go buy di drink," e tell BBC News Pidgin.

Wetin pain Adesebolu pass be say im brodas no dey live for Araromi-Obu bifor, na becos of wedding dem invite di two oda brodas as per say dem be pillar for di family.

E describe im brodas as di 'heartbeat of di family' and dem no fit recova from di death.

"We don lose glory and e dey painful," Adesebolu tok wit pain and tears almost dropping for im eyes.

Adesebolu wey also be one of di youth representatives for Araromi-Obu say dem find out say na methanol di seller go buy instead of ethanol.

E tell BBC News Pidgin say di guy mix di tin wit water, add alcohol come dey sell am give pipo for di community.

"Nobody sabi say e don mix di drinks. E mix chemical wey dem dey use embalm dead bodies, and pipo go dey buy am but dem no know."