Tuo zaafi and palm-nut soup kills four

Grief, fear and anxiety visited the township of Ahamasu in the Kadjebi District of the Volta Region last Monday when a man, his two wives and a grandchild were wiped out after enjoying a meal of ‘tuo zaafi’ and palm-nut soup.

The four, Alhaji Abudul Aziz, 90, his wives Alimatu Sadia, 65, Hajia Fatimatu, 70, and their grandchild Kuburatu Abdul Aziz, a 13-year class-five pupil, were pronounced dead when they were rushed to the Mary Theresa Hospital at Dodi Papasi last Monday.

Two others, Lantana Abdul Aziz, 20, and Haruna Abdul Aziz, 7, are however in a critical condition at the same hospital.

A certain Joe Muntari, who is on the run, is being fingered for allegedly orchestrating the tragedy. Narrating the incident to Daily Guide at the Ahamasu residence of the deceased on Wednesday, Abubakari, son of the late Alhaji Abdul Aziz, explained that the six, on Easter Sunday evening, enjoyed the meal prepared by Lantana before retiring to bed.

On the afternoon of Easter Monday however, the two elderly women started complaining of stomachache. Later, their husband also followed with a similar complaint and so did the rest; but the four died on reaching the hospital. When Daily Guide visited Ahamasu on Wednesday, the family had gathered after burying the four according to Islamic rites.

Daily Guide later visited the other two at the Dodi Papasi Mary Theresa Hospital in the same district, but could not talk to Lantana, who was said to be preparing for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) this month, as she was fast asleep.

Her mother, who was sitting close to her hospital bed, however said that the daughter’s condition had deteriorated, compared to when she was first brought to the hospital, adding that when they arrived earlier, Lantana was doing everything on her own to the extent of going to buy banana.

The luck of the two hospitalized persons, according to family source, was that little Haruna was said to have vomited the food immediately it touched his stomach while Lantana did not eat much since, by her nature, heavy meals were not her favourites.

Hospital authorities confirmed that the six took poisoned food. At Ahamasu, the rumour mill was agog with accusations directed at one Joe Muntari for allegedly poisoning the family. According to the rumour mongers, Muntari was noted for poisoning goats and sheep that went into his farm to eat his crops.

They claimed that on the day the sad incident took place, he had confided in a friend that previously, he had gone to the house of the deceased to pound a poisonous herb with their mortar and pistol which he later mixed with food and took to the farm to poison the ‘troublesome’ goats and sheep that would try eating his crops that day. He therefore told the friend he was wondering if that could be the cause of the poisoning.

Daily Guide gathered that on hearing the ‘confession’, a section of the youth bayed for his blood; but on seeing them, he sought refuge in a mosque on the dawn of Wednesday. But for the timely intervention of the Police, he would have joined the six in the land of the ancestors. The angry youth went to his farm where they allegedly found the remaining poisonous herb mixed with food and a dead goat.

He is reported to have since gone into hiding, with his family members allegedly negotiating for his return. The family of the deceased, Daily Guide gathered, had however not shown any interest in pursuing the case. Meanwhile, the District Chief Executive of Kadjebi, Seth Alifui, has visited the bereaved family and the other two victims at the hospital.

He encouraged them to look up to God, promising to bring the elderly surviving victim to the District Capital, Kadjebi where he would put her on scholarship till she completes her secondary education. The four have since been buried as the family wait for 40 days to perform the final funeral rites.