The Gidinye community of Obi Local Government Area in Nasarawa State is paralysed with fear following the deaths of five children in less than 24 hours.
Gidinye, a community in the LG’s Jenkwe Development Area, is home to thousands of able-bodied men and women, including youngsters.
Our journalist discovered that the youngsters, aged five, six, seven, and fifteen, died after complaining of stomach aches, vomiting, and purging on Monday and Tuesday.
Speaking about the event on Wednesday, Samuel Akala, publicity secretary of the Migili Youth Association, said the youngsters had gone home with their parents to their farms near the Keana LG when they suddenly became ill.
As a result, he urged the Nasarawa State Government and all other necessary authorities to investigate the situation as soon as possible in order to contain it and save the lives of other children in the area.
He said, “We lost the five children in less than 24 hours in the same community. The children left home for the farm. While on the farm, one of them started complaining of stomach ache and started vomiting and purging at the same time.
“Within a short time, he began to have difficulty with his breathing, and when he was rushed home, he died. The other children had similar symptoms and died.
“The case is still on the increase, and we are yet to discover the cause of their deaths.
“The circumstances that resulted in the sudden death of these children call for forensic findings. I suggest that the Centre for Disease Control and the Primary Healthcare Development Agency should be invited to carry out disease surveillance in communities around Obi and Keana LGAs where there have been reported cases of acute diarrhoea, vomiting, and death of children in the past few days.”
While underscoring that the community was interested in learning the true causes of the five children’s untimely deaths, Akala urged authorities to move quickly to find a solution to the problem in order to prevent the unknown disease from infecting a large number of the area’s people.
Dr. Grace Tsakpa, the State Epidemiologist, confirmed the occurrence to our correspondent in Lafia on Wednesday, saying that healthcare personnel had been deployed to the town to collect samples from the surviving family members.
While adding that the results of the collected samples were yet to be disclosed, Dr. Tsakpa said that based on her observations, the cause of their deaths could have been food poisoning because the diseases began soon after they completed eating their dinner on the farm.
She said, “For now, we have taken samples from the other family members, but our suspicion is going towards food poisoning. This is because the whole incident happened after they ate food at the farm.
“The five children belong to two brothers. The family (parents and children) went to the farm, cooked there, and ate. It was on the farm that one of the children started complaining of abdominal pain, and he later died. The other four children also died after developing symptoms.”
The state epidemiologist expressed her condolences to both families for their children’s untimely deaths and told them that she and her team will investigate every possible cause of death.
