"Steer Clear Of Unregistered Local Gin" - FG Warns 'Ogogoro' Consumers

 

The Federal Government has banned the consumption of unregistered locally made gin, following several deaths in Rivers and Ondo States due to food poisoning linked to the consumption of local gin, better known as Kai-kai or Ogogoro, with lethal doses of Methanol.

 

The Rivers State government, while reactinng to the death of 38 persons, said the deaths in Rivers and that of Ode-Irele, in Ondo State, were associated with the consumption of locally made gin.

 

Addressing reporters, the Director General of National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul Orhii said: “Preliminary investigation by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) ruled out any infectious diseases and confirmed the possibility of poisoning as the cause of the deaths and in turn advised NAFDAC to conduct further investigations”.

“The symptoms suffered by victims included vomiting, abdominal pain, blurred vision, headache, dizziness and loss of consciousness with subsequent sudden deaths of 18 victims,” Orhii said.

Orhii, who was joined at the briefing by NCDC Director, Prof. Abdulrahman Nasidi, explained that all indications showed that “these symptoms are the hallmark signs of methanol poisoning”.

 

Since the announcement of the ban, several reactions have trailed the decision with many locals calling it a callous move on the part of the government.