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.
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