Wole Balogun, Ado Ekiti
A 45-year-old mother and her two children, yesterday died in Odo-Ayedun Ekiti in Ikole Local government after eating yam flour.
Daily Sun learnt that the deceased woman’s husband, who is in his 50s, is also in a critical condition at the Federal Teaching Hospital (FETH) in Ido Ekiti as doctors are battling to save his life due to suspected food poisoning.
Two dogs that also ate the flour were said to have died, according to eyewitness.
The eldest of the children was 14 while the younger one was 12.
A lawmaker, representing Ikole Constituency II in the House of Assembly, Adeoye Aribasoye, who confirmed this to newsmen in Ado Ekiti, yesterday, had earlier raised the issue at plenary of the House where he called for investigation into the matter.
Aribasoye said the flour was made by the mother, which was served to all family members as dinner.
“After they ate the flour on Saturday, the mother and the two children complained of stomach ache overnight and they resulted to self-medication which led to the death of the mother on Monday and the two children in quick succession between Monday and Tuesday .
“Before the deaths were broken to the father, he was already down and was rushed to FETH,” he said.
Aribasoye said the remote cause of the incident is still unknown, but insisted that the larger percentage of the people suspected food poisoning.
He, however, lamented the poor health facilities at the health centre in Odo Ayedun community, which could have been veritable avenue for them to receive first aid.
In his response, Speaker Funminiyi Afuye sympathised with the deceased’s’ family and the entire people of the constituency over the incident.
The speaker directed the House Committee on Health to visit the family and town of the incident, and commence investigation into the matter.
When contacted, Police Public Relations Officer, Caleb Ikechukwu, who also confirmed the incident, said the police will join other institutions to investigate the cause of the deaths.