Seven die after drinking tea at Kano wedding

Seven people were reported dead and several others hospitalised after drinking Datura tea during a wedding ceremony in Sheka Quaters, Kumbotso Local Council of Kano State.

Datura is made of nine species of highly poisonous, vespertine-flowering plants belonging to the nightshade family.

The deceased persons were suspected to have drank the local leaf popularly known as Zakami, which contains a psychoactive substance.

A witness and the bride’s elder brother, Sanusi Yahaya, said the tea was suspected to be made with different types of drugs apart from the local leaf.

According to him, it had become a norm for some youth in the area, especially drug addicts, to cook Zakami tea during wedding ceremonies.

“They cooked the tea and the deceased didn’t even know the number and types of drugs that were inside to the extent that some had to abandon it.

“But some of them insisted that they must drink from the tea, saying that their brains can take it.

“After drinking the tea, two people died, some have recovered while others are hospitalised,” he said.

Another witness, Abdullahi Muhammad, said seven people had died as of Tuesday.

He said some of those hospitalised were not from the area, but were passers by, who decided to drink from the tea.

“We don’t know the exact number for now, but seven have been confirmed dead. Some of the victims were not even invited to the wedding, they just came to disguise and take their drugs,” he said.

When contacted, spokesperson for Kano State Police Command, Abdullahi Haruna, said: “The Command and the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in the area were yet to receive any report on the incident.

“Though we heard about the incident, now nobody has reported it to the DPO or the State Command.”

He, however, promised to contact the Village Head for details of the incident as, according to him, only one person was said to have lost his life after drinking the “killer tea”.