1 Dies, 5 Hospitalised After Amala Meal In Oyo

One person has reportedly died while five others have been hospitalised as a result of food poison after eating amala from cassava peels in Ogbomoso, Oyo State.

The victim, a granddaughter in a family of six was said to have developed abdominal complications after the family of six had dinner from the amala they made from the peels.

A source told LEADERSHIP that the incident occurred at the victims’ residence at the Temidire Atoyebi area of Ogbomoso, in the Ogbomoso South/Ogo Oluwa Local Government Area of Oyo State.

A distress call from the house located along Ogbomoso-Iwo Road that evening drew the attention of the neighbours, who quickly rushed the mother, Mrs Victoria Paul Adewole, and the five children to the Ogo Oluwa Hospital, opposite Ogbomoso High School.

At the hospital, the granddaughter who was confirmed to be brought in dead (BID) was rejected.

The mother and four other children were admitted and have since been under intensive medical treatment, the source said.

She further disclosed that initial report on the incident suggested that the family ate amala that was prepared from yam or cassava flour.

“However, one of the children managed to disclose that it was cassava peels that they ground and made into flour which they prepared as amala since they could not afford to buy yam or cassava flour,” the source said.

There are insinuations that the peels which could have been contaminated resulted in the death of the deceased, whose immune system might be very low.

“The mother and her other four children were still battling with life in the hospital. We plead with kind-hearted people to please assist the family in whatever way they can so that fatality is no longer recorded among them”, the source pleaded.

Confirming the incident, the chief medical director of the hospital, Prof. Olawale Olakulehin, said the deceased indeed died before getting to the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso.

“As of this afternoon, four of the five undergoing treatments are in stable condition.

However, one of them is in critical condition. I have just been updated”, the CMD said.