If the family of six who ate flour prepared from cassava peels had known that they would land in hospitals and even lose their loved one, maybe they would have preferred to stay hungry.
The Point gathered that the day before they decided to fill their empty stomachs with ‘amala’ meal which was made from the contaminated cassava peels, the family of six had starved for a whole day and because they couldn’t continue to feel the pinch of the hunger, they settled with the peels.
Unfortunately, the family members who live at Temidire Atoyebi area of Ogbomoso, in Ogbomoso South/Ogo Oluwa Local Government area of Oyo State, developed severe abdominal pain no sooner had they finished eating the dinner.
After six of them were rushed to Ladoke Akintola Teaching Hospital in Ogbomoso for treatment, one of the family members could not make it out of the hospital alive.
Residents of the area had been alerted through the painful noises from the family before some neighbours quickly rushed the mother, Mrs. Victoria Oyewole and the five children to the Ogo Oluwa Hospital, opposite Ogbomoso High School.
Unfortunately, the hospital management had to refer them to LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso having observed their serious condition.
Upon arrival at the teaching hospital, the granddaughter could not be admitted because she was reportedly brought in dead. Five others were admitted and after staying at the intensive care unit of the hospital for days, they were discharged.
Sources had said the family ate Amala dinner prepared from grinded cassava peels. They disclosed that the family opted for cassava peels which have poisonous content since they could not afford to buy yam or cassava flour.
Narrating how she fetched the cassava peels and made amala from it during an interview, the mother of the family, Mrs. Victoria Oyewole said she always saw people collect the cassava peels from the factory she works as a labourer, adding that she could not watch her children starve for another day.
She explained that her husband’s financial challenge and the collapse of her petty business led her into opting for the peels for the feeding of her hungry family.
According to her, “My husband was not around when the incident happened on February 28, 2024. He is a bricklayer and was broke because he doesn’t get jobs. When he traveled, he could not leave any money for us.
“Before, we used to gather whatever money we had to feed our family. But, ever since he started experiencing low patronage in his bricklaying work, I have been the one struggling to fend for the family.
“Because of my husband’s financial condition, my petty business has been negatively affected and I no longer have goods to hawk.”
On how they passed out after eating the flour meal on that fateful day, the mother of four children stated, “I had no money and ditto my husband. On the third day he traveled, I started going to the cassava processing factory for labour. I peel cassava and the owners will pay afterwards. I got some money at the factory and used it to settle our debt because the debtor has been disturbing and shouting at us.
“The day I paid the debtor, we didn’t eat that night. On the next day, all my children were so hungry and weak. I was very famished too. Then, I remember some people used to make cassava peels to make elubo (cassava flour).
“Immediately, I went to the cassava factory and got some cassava peels. I dried them, pounded and grinded them with a machine. I ate it alongside my six children. My direct children are four while two others are my grandchildren. We passed out after eating the meal. I was not even conscious of how my children were feeling. If not for the grace of God, all of us would have died.”
Speaking in the same vein, Victoria’s husband, Paul Oyewole said, “It was at the night of February 28 that my uncles called me on the phone that they saw two men who came to inform them that my wife and children have been hospitalized. I could not sleep when I heard this. I was only praying to God to save their lives. Early in the morning of the next day, I went home and I saw my uncles who were already running around and buying drugs to salvage the lives of my wife and children at the Ladoke Akintola Teaching Hospital, Ogbomosho.
“After all efforts, we lost one of the children. I am yet to recover from this shock. I still see the dead child in my dreams till now.”
He admitted that he did not have any money for his family while traveling, blaming economic hardship for his inability to fend for them.
One of the doctors who attended to the family at LAUTECH, Dr. Oyetunji Alabi, explained that, “Three of them were unconscious and in a very bad state when they were brought in. Water has dried up in their body. The 13 years old was already in shock because there was no water in his body. When we carried out checks on them, we discovered that their oxygen level was very low. Usually, someone who is not sick, the oxygen level is 90 to 95 percent over 100 but these patients had about 70 percent oxygen level.
“From our history, we discovered that they consumed cassava peels which had some poisonous contents. The woman said hunger led her into feeding the children with the cassava peel.”
