By; Vitalis Ugoh, Calabar
The village head of Oboso, Oti Clement Ori, where two lives were lost and several others hospitalised, has said that the community has been rattled by the incident and prayed for the recovery of dozens of those rushed to the hospital.
He expressed this when contacted by NewNigerian over the unfortunate incident, after news broke on alleged food poisoning that claimed the lives of two couples while more than 50 others are lying critical conditions in a hospital in Oboso Community in Mbube East in Ogoja Local Government Area of Cross River State.
As a result, the entire Oboso community usually full of activities was thrown into confusion and mourning, when media visited the area.
Residents who gathered in clusters at the scene of the incident could not hold back their tears as some wailed, while others expressed shock and disbelief at the strange occurrence in the peaceful community.
According to eyewitness account, a food vendor, Anna Erah and her husband, Edward Erah, died as they were rushed to the general hospital, Ogoja after eating a meal of fermented cassava and soup she prepared for sale unknowingly.
Two community leaders, Joseph Abua Ogaga and Thomas Abang Adogo, said the deceased Anna Erah was a food vendor at Aragbang-Oboso roundabout, where she did her business, while her husband also sold palm wine at the same venue.
It was further gathered that the the deceased couple left behind five little children with the oldest being twelve years old.
Another eyewitnesses, Thomas Abang Adogo, suspected that the poisoning may have come from the sauce as according to him even those who bought the soup to use in their homes also suffered symptoms of foaming & vomiting blood.
He suspected fowl play in the entire incident and assured that the community would work to find out if someone was behind the ugly incident.
One of the medical personnel handling the victims at the general hospital, Ogoja, who spoke on anonymity said “some of the patients were stable, while others were still in critical condition and confirmed the death of the woman who prepared the meal and her spouse”.
Some of the victims who narrated their ordeal said they ate only meat from the soup, while some said they bought only soup to use at home.
Meanwhile, the Director General of State Emergency Management Agency- SEMA, John Inaku, who visited the victims in the hospital assured them of government support to alleviate their plight.
He expressed sympathy with the victims, adding that he got a distress call about the unfortunate incident.
Inaku commended the Ogoja General Hospital management for the quick response in evacuating the victims to the hospital and assured that samples of the food would be taken to Calabar for analysis.
