Residents of an unnumbered building on Adekoya street in the Ilepa area of Ikare Akoko, in Ondo state, have ran out of their house after a birthday party turned tragic.
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PunchNg reports that the birthday party of a young man simply identified as Azeez took place in the house on Saturday, February 12, 2017.
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It was reported that as a way to make the occasion interesting for guests, the celebrant mixed a certain plant called ‘gegemu’ along with other substances to boost the alcoholic content of the local wine.
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But crisis started at midnight, hours into the ceremony, when those who drank the concussion started reacting negatively to it. By the dawn of the next day, two young men had died while several lay in critical conditions across various hospitals. One more victim passed away four days after the tragedy, bringing the number of the dead to three.
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According to a resident, who spoke to Punch anonymously, one of the victims identified as Kazeem Ogungbemi, was reported to have collapsed several times during the party before he was taken to a government-owned hospital but the doctors’ strike and lack of personnel led to his death.
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“We woke up on that day to learn that many of the boys who attended that partydrank ‘gegemu’. I have never seen such a thing before in my life. They did not gofor soft drinks but went for that type of harsh mixture that even adults too cannot stand.
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“Before Kazeem died, he collapsed several times with blood gushing out of his mouth and nose. He died while being rushed to a private hospital following the non-response by officials at the government hospital,”the source said.
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A middle-aged woman, whose son was revived the next day after the incident said that they were yet to get over the fear and shock the incident left them.
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“My son has not been able to speak even though he is in a stable condition now.I have spent so much money trying to save his life and ensure that he is back to normal. I still cannot understand what is really going on,” the enraged woman said.
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A youth leader in the community, Ibitoye Kehinde, told Punch that the incident still surprised many of them because it was the first time that such was happening in the town.
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“I was surprised by the incident; we pray that this would not happen again. Azeez plucked the plant (gegemu) and soaked it inside water for seven days before mixing it with other alcoholic substances to make it appeal to guests. It was a deadly move which has thrown the entire community in sorrow,” he said.
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When contacted, Public Relations Officer for the Ondo state police command, Mr. Femi Joseph, confirmed that the drinks consumed by victims indeed contained toxic substances harmful to the body. He said that investigation into the matter had started and that they were on the trail of Azeez and his cohorts.
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Azeez the celebrant [photo]
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