The Kano state government Thursday confirmed the death of 10 persons and 400 on admission in various hospitals after taking a killer-local juice in the state.
The tragic incident came barely four weeks after the reported deaths of two persons with many others hospitalised in Kano following the consumption of contaminated juice.
The second wave of the killer-juice onslaught came on the heels of the growing fear being expressed by residents of the ancient city that the remaining juice purportedly in circulation may have more adverse effect if persistent effort was not made to nip its circulation in the bud.
In an audio message made available to newsmen in Kano, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, revealed that no fewer than 10 persons died while 400 others were on admission in hospitals following complications arising from consumption of the killer-drinks in the state.
Tsanyawa said that out of the 400 people being hospitalised, over 50 were currently undergoing kidney-related treatment in government hospitals.
He cautioned residents on consumption of such juice, especially during the month of Ramadan to avoid catastrophic consequences.
“As you are aware, the Ministry of Health had in the recent past announced the outbreak of a strange disease traceable to the consumption of substandard juices.
“The consumption of these fake and substandard products has telling effects on the kidney, and vital organs of the body. Therefore, I strongly caution you to avoid taking such juice flavours,” he said.
Poor sale hits juice sellers
With the Ramadan fast starting almost three days ago, sellers of different types of juice flavour have continued to express apprehension that their business would be adversely affected as tens of thousands of customers were currently running away from it for fear of the unknown.
A cross section of sellers who spoke to Blueprint under anonymity, said “the development has drastically affected our business. People are not ready to buy any type of juice, no matter how good such drink is.
“This is not the best of time for us as juice sellers. I think the government can just identify the bad juice in the market and make that public to restore the confidence in consumers as well as sellers. As things stand now, it is bad business for us.”
Cleric, faithful caution
In some of the mosques visited by one of our correspondents where the annual Ramadan Tafsir holds, many of the preachers were heard telling the faithful to take extra precautionary steps in avoiding the consumption of juice anyhow, considering the precarious nature of the situation, whereby innocent customers got trapped in the fog of the killer-juice.
Speaking to our correspondent on the dismal development, a Muslim worshipper attending Tafsir at the famous Waje Central mosque, who spoke under anonymity, said the circulation of the fake juice had “exposed the excessive greed of those who want to get rich easily at the expense of those who knew nothing about the deadly nature of the juice,” adding that it would be counter-productive for one to get an ill-gotten wealth by employing a sinister means.
According to him, it is the sole responsibility of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC) and the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) to take proactive steps aimed at fishing out the perpetrators of the evil act for peoples’ health to be safeguarded by the government.
He urged them to beam their regulatory searchlight on all the warehouses in Kano and confiscate the juice stocked, to stem the tide of possibly dumping it on unsuspecting consumers.
The faithful further called on marketers of the killer-juice to have the fear of God, stressing that they have no justification to throw caution to the wind, simply because of their penchant for brisk business.
Kaduna on drug abuse
In a related development, a survey by Kaduna State Bureau for Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (KADBUSA) has revealed 10% of Kaduna state citizens have drug abuse-related problem, even as it established a linkage between drug abuse and violence.
KADBUSA Director General Dr. Joseph Maigari stated this Thursday during an advocacy visit to Agwatyap at his palace in Zango Kataf.
He said Nigeria has drug abuse prevalence of 14.4%, hence the decision by the state government to carry out sensitisation across the state to ensure reduction of demand and supply of illicit drugs by youth and women and consequent reduction in drug abuse.
The visit was followed by a sensitisation meeting with over 50 members of the Atyap traditional council, district heads, village heads and other stakeholders, including that on advocacy visit to District Head of Zango and Zango Kataf market.
He said: “We are here because of the concern of Kaduna state governor about people’s behaviour with effect of drug in the Atyap Chiefdom.
“There is a linkage between drug abuse and violence. These drugs include cocaine, codeine, Tramadol, beer, Ketanin, Rolphnol, Diazepam, cannabis, ecstasy. Drug abuse is anything you take that changes your behaviour and makes you bold. Sensitisation on the danger of drug abuse can lead to behavioural change, a better productivity of our youth and women for a better society. This sensitisation will go round the state to prevent new cases.
“Kaduna state government is funding four rehabilitation centers in Kaduna state, two more to be added, to prevent new cases and treat existing cases. This will reduce banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling to enable people live in peace and security.”
In a response, the Agwatyap, Mr. Dominic Gambo Yahaya lamented that many youths took to drugs because of lack of jobs, adding that drug abuse contributed to insecurity in the state and country.
He also urged improved presence and enforcement by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to proactively tackle drug abuse.
“Insecurity can be heightened if the youth are exposed to drug. While on drug they can do anything no matter how ugly. This fight against drug abuse in the long run will help to reduce social vices, violence and crises. The youth when on drugs, listen to nobody. We should approach the fight from both demand and supply sides because if supply is addressed, people can go elsewhere to take it.
“You can take three local governments together so that if someone cannot get it in Laura, in Jaba in Zonkwa, the consumption will gradually reduce. There are some people who have no job and are in despair and despondency, when they get introduced to drugs and they achieve confidence which pushes back their despondency. So, creation of jobs to engage the youth is highly necessary.
“In 2017 when we received information that drug consumption is becoming alarming, we tried to tackle the problem of drug abuse in the supply side by meeting with over 300 shop owners in the chiefdom. We made it clear that the drugs they are selling are destroying our youth, so we want them to stop and anybody with the drug should dispose it or we will prosecute them or they should leave the chiefdom.
“We set up committees in every district to ensure that our directives are followed. We went ahead and monitored them and we also ensured that the drugs were not available. We noticed decline in supply and consumption because there is no shop where you can find it. But it has not stopped the consumption because they go to Zonkwa, Manchok, Kafanchan to buy and retail individually to the consumers in their pocket.”
