First Ondo, now Rivers, ‘ogogoro’ banned

The Rivers State Government has banned the sale of a local gin popularly known as kai-kai or ogogoro in any part of the state.

This is fallout of deaths recorded in the dog meat saga which has been traced to the local gin consumed by the victims. 22 persons are reported to have died so far from the incidence.

It was learnt that the deceased died after taking the local gin, which was suspected to contain a poisonous substance, in Woji area of Obio/Akpor and Bonny Island in Bonny Local Government Area of the state.

It will be recalled that the same local gin was also banned in Ondo State in the aftermath of deaths that resulted from consumption of the product in the state.

In Rivers, the Department of Disease Control explained that the decision to ban the sale and consumption of local gin became necessary in order to save the lives of unsuspecting members of the public who might want to consume the toxic drink and lose their lives.

Director of Disease Control in State Ministry of Health, Dr. Roland Whyte, expressed worry over the difficulty in getting samples of the dangerous gin in order to subject it to a clinical analysis.

Whyte disclosed that angry youths from Woji community had set ablaze a shop belonging to one Friday Dickson (aka Etiaba) where the poisonous gin was suspected to have been consumed.

Identifying blindness and vomiting as some of the symptoms noticed in affected persons, Whyte expressed sadness that some of the deceased were buried without autopsy, adding that the situation was making medical examination difficult.

In Bonny, the spokesman of Bonny Kingdom, Mr. Simon Wilcox, said some of those who drank the local gin were lying critically ill in the hospital.

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