A local dish known as Dambu has reportedly killed two mothers and five children after they ate it as breakfast on Monday.
The seven family members, according to Daily Trust, hailed from Kaura village in Yabo Local Government Area of Sokoto State. Malam Danbala is the breadwinner of the family.
“I was in Niger State where I work as a labourer when I received a call on Monday from one of my brothers that there was a problem which required my urgent attention at home,” Danbala said. “He asked me to come back home as soon as I could. I insisted on knowing what happened, but he cut the call without making further comment.”
“So I took the early morning bus to Sokoto and when I reached home, I discovered all members of my family, with the exception of my little daughter, were all gone. They were buried even before my arrival on Tuesday, as our religion demanded,” he added.
According to Danbala, the problem began when one of his wives cooked Dambu for their breakfast.
He said: “They all ate to their satisfaction and after a while, they started complaining of stomach pain and were all rushed to the hospital.
“The five children died first, followed by my wives who died around midnight, but my little girl is responding to treatment because she did not eat much of the food.”
An eyewitness account corroborated the bereaved’s words, saying the wife initially cooked the meal for their dinner on Sunday, which she shared with the neighbors.
WikkiTimes learnt that the remnant of the food was reserved for their breakfast on Monday morning. She would mix the remnant with a raw Dambu the following morning and it was left “uncovered” throughout the night.
“This is how God destined their fate. May Allah grants them Jannatul Firdaus,” said the grieving father and husband.
On August 18, WikkiTimes reported a similar incident in Zamfara where the local dish reportedly claimed seven lifves in a family cycle.
