Police arrest suspected producer of ‘killer’ herbal drinks

Ondo State Government has banned the sale of local gin across the state’s 18 local councils, as consumption has reportedly claimed the lives of 29 people.

The state’s Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Idowu Ajanaku, disclosed this while explaining the circumstances surrounding the deaths, saying that the substance was not a contaminated beverage but a locally produced gin manufactured somewhere around Odigbo Local Council.

Ajanaku said the state government initially discovered that about 10 people had died, adding that another eight people died after consuming the gin at a naming ceremony in one of the affected communities.

He said the incident was traced to about three communities in the state, while the government had moved to ensure that the substance did not spread to other parts of Ondo.

According to him, the alcohol was consumed in both bottles and sachets, prompting the state government to take immediate steps to stop its sale and prevent further consumption.

Ajanaku said the state government, after reviewing the situation, decided to ban the sale of the affected types of alcohol, particularly sachet alcoholic products, across all the 18 local councils.

He said the ban would enable the government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths and take steps to prevent the substance from spreading to other parts of the state.

The commissioner said the government had also implemented various measures to ensure public safety and to get to the root of the incident.

The Guardian, however, reached out to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for clarification, but the agency had yet to confirm the cause of the deaths or comment on the reported consumption of the local gin.

Meanwhile, Ondo State Police Command has arrested a man, Oloruntoba Babatunde, who allegedly produced a herbal liquid substance that killed many people in Araromi-Obu and Odigbo communities in Odigbo Local Council of the state.

In a statement yesterday by the Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the state’s Police Command, DSP Abayomi Jimoh, the suspect was apprehended, while 14 others were arrested for violating the local council’s ban on the sale of herbal products.

The Command also said it had commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths, while the bodies of the deceased were undergoing the necessary medical and forensic procedures.