Rivers: 70 Out Of 80 Consumers Of Local Gin Now Dead

Rivers_State

The Rivers State government said 70 of the 80 persons who took a contaminated local gin (also known as Ogogoro), earlier this month, had died.

Director Public Health Services, Rivers ministry of health, Dr Nnanna Onyekwere, told newsmen  in Port Harcourt on Sunday that two of the survivors had visual impairment.

According to him, the cases were reported in Woji and Gokana communities in the state. “So far, in the past one week, we have not had any more deaths or new cases. The situation has been under control.

“In the beginning, it started somewhere in Woji and by the time we had the last count, we had about 80 persons tracked down, who took the drink, out of which 70 had died. The rest survived, while two had visual impairment as a result of the drink,’’ he said.

Onyekwere said that the state government had liaised with the relevant stakeholders. “The state has done so much already. We started with public enlightenment with grassroot mobilization in collaboration with the National Orientation Agency and Road Transport Workers.

“Luckily, with the Federal Government’s announcement banning the gin, NAFDAC and the police are now working with us . We have achieved success in terms of control,’’ he said.