Husband, Wife, Child Die, 12 Others Hospitalised After Eating Beans In Kano
Kola Oyelere Kano - 12.09.2009

A man, his wife and their daughter died after eating beans suspected to have been contaminated, while 12 others were hospitalised at Yandatsa Village of Bebeji Local Government Area of Kano State.


According to an eyewitness, the affected family of seven, who had eaten the suspected poisonous beans, lost three of them — the head of the family, Mallam Salihu Umaru, his wife, Karima, and their daughter.


However, a reliable source hinted that five, out of the seven family members including two of the deceased’s wives, Talatuwa and Gambo, and 10 other members of the family were hospitalised after eating the alleged killer beans.


A surviving wife of the deceased, Mallama Gambo, explained that the beans was emitting a foul odour even after she washed it three times but went ahead to cooked it.


“We shared it among our children, my husband and other members of the family,” she said, adding that “after eating it, we developed a stomach problem.


“It was when the situation became uncontrollable that we were taken to the hospital and later, three members of the family died. “What compounded the problem was that we were unable to be taken to the hospital early enough because the healthcare centres are too far from the village, while the roads are not motorable, and as a result, one after the other, they slumped and died,”she narrated.


A relative of late Mallam Salihu, Mallam Danladi, stated that the incident happened around 8.00 p.m. when late Karima started vomiting blood, while others were gasping for breath; adding that before they got a vehicle that could carry the victims to the hospital, Karima had died.


The chairman of Bebeji Local Government Area, Alhaji Dankaka Usaini Bebeji, confirmed the incident. According to him, the local government had provided a number of health centres at the scattered communities.
“There is a nearby 20-bed hospital to the village where the incident occurred,”he said.


He condemned farmers who preserve their grains with ‘rat poison’ against pests. He, however, urged the people who lost their relatives to regard the incident as an act of Allah, praying God to give them the fortitude to bear the loss.



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