One Dies, 3 Hospitalized For Eating Poisonous Cassava in Jigawa

An 11-year-old school pupil reportedly died after eating poisonous cassava while three other family members are said to be lying critically ill at Duste General Hospital, Jigawa state.
The incident, which occurred at Kudanci quarters in Shiwarin ward of Kiyawa local government area of the state, resulted in the death of Shehu Abubakar and sickness of the boys after they had eaten poisonous cassava.
The police acting on information from neighbours that four boys of the same family were suffering from serious stomach pain as a result of eating poisonous cassava quickly mobilized officers to their residence.
A source said “On getting the information without waste of time police men rushed them to hospital for medical attention.”
The primary School pupil, Shehu Abubakar, died immediately on getting to the hospital “and other three are still alive and getting medical attention”.
The source gave the names of the others as Audu Garba, 13; Adamu Gambo, 10 and Bashir Garba, 7.
SP Audu Jinjiri, Jigawa state police Command Police Public Relations Officer, confirmed the incident to newsmen.
Jinjiri explained that the police have commenced investigation to identify where they bought the cassava.
He, therefore, urged cassava sellers to differentiate between mature cassava and free mature which is poisonous and dangerous to human lives.