₦airaland Forum

Enugu Family Of Six Hit By Tragedy As Father, Mother, Three Children Die After Meal

The family of Pastor Ignatius Ikeze of Neke Akpani Autonomous Community in Isi-Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State has been thrown into mourning following the death of five members in an alleged food poisoning.

The incident, our correspondent gathered on Thursday, happened between August 30 and 31, 2025.

Ikeze, who spoke to some journalists in Enugu on the devastating incident, revealed that the members were the immediate family of his younger brother, whom he gave his name as Barnabas Ikeze, his wife, Angela, and three children.

He gave their names as Divine Ikeze, Gift Ikeze, and Victor Ikeze.

Although he said that he was not around when the incident happened, he was informed that their ordeal began when they took their evening meal on August 29, only to wake up the following morning with severe stomach cramps.

The neighbours and family relations immediately rushed them to the FaithLand Clinic, a hospital in a neighbouring community in Ikem, headquarters of Isi-Uzo LGA, since there is no functional hospital in the community and the entire Neke Town.

On the road, one of the children, identified as Divine, died, and Gift, the only daughter, died on getting to the hospital, leaving four: their father, Barnabas; mother, Angela; first son, Marvellous, and the last child, Victor. Unfortunately, they also died on Sunday night in a dramatic turn of events, with only the first son surviving.

According to him, he went to a conference in Abuja and returned on Saturday, August 30, and was informed of the unfortunate situation in the night.

“On Sunday, August 31, I went to the hospital, saw my brother, wife, and two other sons alive. I went to the mortuary and saw the two who had died.”

He further narrated, “It was said that after they ate food on Friday night, the food was poisoned. On Saturday morning, all of them began to have severe stomach cramps, and they were rushed to the hospital, and two died. Then, the remaining four were there. When I came, my brother, Barnabas, told me that he was hungry, and I bought food for them. The other two sons were also recovering. We all charted. Although the wife was on oxygen, she responded to greetings.

“She was just recovering, and in the evening, I went out, and one of my sisters was taking care of them. When I returned in the evening, she narrated a story to me that one man who was alleged to be responsible for my brother’s family condition, that when they were having our clan meeting just a week before the incident had openly said he would deal with my brother. That he would kill him, because there was a case raised in that meeting, and he spoke the truth. The suspect (name withheld) saw him as a threat and swore to eliminate him.

“And this person in question had been consistently saying that he would wipe out all my family members because of a land dispute, which the entire community adjudicated, and we won. Since the land dispute victory, the man swore that he would wipe out our entire family,” he claimed.

“So, my sister said that this very man came all the way from our community to the hospital in a neighbouring community to see whether they were all dead. When he came, he stood at the door. Then, one nurse, after discussing with him, was calling my sister to distract her, but she refused,” Pastor Ignatius narrated in tears.

He claimed that the man who came with another young man then went away with the nurse.

He stated that after listening to her story, he decided to stay in the hospital till Monday morning and take them out of the facility. “So, that Sunday night, I slept there with two of my sisters. Around 9 – 10 pm, after they had taken their medications and slept, one nurse came in and told us that it was not convenient for these two children to stay in the same ward with their parents, that there was a room she had prepared that she would take the children there while their parents remained where they were.

“I was even thinking it was for good intentions and thanked her. Then, she told one of my two sisters there with me to carry the last child, and they left the room. I followed them to the nurses’ room, and we sat down. The nurse now returned to where my brother and wife were staying and called out the other of my sister and my brother’s first son. All of them came out to stay with us. Then, there was no one again in the room with my brother and wife. Immediately, I remembered what my sister had told me earlier in the day.

“So, I rose and rushed to their room and saw the nurse remove the oxygen from my brother’s wife’s nose. She removed it and was putting something inside her mouth. Instantly, I shouted, “Nurse, what are you doing?’ The only thing was that my phone ran out of power, otherwise I would have videoed the scene. So, immediately, I shook her; she had already gone.

“The police said they would arrest the nurse immediately, while the following morning, they would go for the man who had threatened to kill my brother and wipe out his family. So, before we could return to the hospital from the police station, my brother, who was already recovering, whom we all ate and discussed with, and his youngest son, who was already playing, had all died.

He said the first son, who was taken by a woman to her hospital bed, was the only one who survived. “As all of them died, I don’t know what to do again. I carried the only one that survived to Enugu immediately in the wee hours on Monday. I went to the ESUT Parklane Teaching Hospital, but nobody to attend to us at the emergency. There was no doctor present, and I was advised to go to the Niger Foundation Specialist Hospital.

“I rushed him to the Niger Foundation, and after a thorough medical examination, they wrote prescriptions, which he started taking. The following day, they referred us to the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital to carry out further diagnostics. At that moment, the survival of the son, Marvellous, was what preoccupied my mind,” he explained.

He said that the police later arrested the principal suspect and brought him to the State Criminal Investigation Department, but released the nurse at Ikem Police Station. “At the SCID, the Ikem Division was asked to provide the nurse. The following day, they brought the nurse. She came with her husband and the doctor who owns the hospital,” he said.

He revealed that even the doctor asked him not to make a case with the matter and allow the dead to rest, “but my brother’s soul and those of his family members will not rest without justice. I want justice for my brother, his wife, and his three children. They deserve justice, and we are appealing to the Enugu State Government to ensure that justice is served in this matter.”

Meanwhile, when our correspondent contacted the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Daniel Ndukwe, for a reaction on Thursday evening, he could not be reached on the telephone. He had yet to respond to a text message seeking his reaction as of the time of filing this report.

Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/punchng.com/enugu-family-loses-five-to-suspected-food-poisoning/%3famp

Mr Blogger, Reporting This Sad News In Enugu

Don't Forget, We Are Always Available For You.

This tragedy is heartbreaking—the sudden loss of nearly an entire family under suspicious circumstances is devastating. The story raises serious concerns about food safety, trust in healthcare, and community conflicts. Allegations of poisoning and negligence highlight the urgent need for a thorough investigation. Families should never face such violence or questionable medical practices. May the lone survivor find strength and may the victims’ memory demand accountability.

This is so sad...
May the soul of the departed rest in peace...hmmm shay na luck we go say e dey for the man wey e no dey around during the ordeal or bad luck!!!🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲

post=136791673:
Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/punchng.com/enugu-family-loses-five-to-suspected-food-poisoning/%3famp

post=136791673:
Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/punchng.com/enugu-family-loses-five-to-suspected-food-poisoning/%3famp

you are just speaking long English with something of simple statements, what happened to them? Where it happened! You just full page with extended family stories, how is that a report?

This matter should be taken up with the nurses council of Nigeria

What a big loss!

Rest in peace to them.

God have mercy upon us damn this is hard to bear, God in thy hand we dey

Well someone like me I won't make much fuse just take your time and do back imagine wiping out the whole family

This is really really sad, may the soul of the departed rest peacefully, all the culprits involve should be brought to book Asap. A whole family almost wiped out over something (land) that will definitely still outlive us all...smh.

I'm sure pastor must have prayed on the meal, blessing and sanctifying it before eating, still the poison in the meal still kpai them, which shows that there's no power in the name of J, be delusional all u want but that name is not potent,anything that works when u called D name happened by chance....kapish....

Heart breaking.some humans re terrible.may the souls of the departed rest in peace

What sort of evil is this

God have mercy on your people

mercysamuelson:
This tragedy is heartbreaking—the sudden loss of nearly an entire family under suspicious circumstances is devastating. The story raises serious concerns about food safety, trust in healthcare, and community conflicts. Allegations of poisoning and negligence highlight the urgent need for a thorough investigation. Families should never face such violence or questionable medical practices. May the lone survivor find strength and may the victims’ memory demand accountability.

The state must get to the bottom of this.
There's a case like this in Australia which made headlines.
The perp, a wife, was indicted of poisoning her husband and family.
She's been given 3 life time jail sentences.
Justice must prevail

This is sad, I'll say r. I. P to them if this news is true.
Investigation should begin immediately

When Pastor noticed and heard what transpired between the nurse and the suspect, adhering to the same nurse's instruction was a fatal mis judgement on his side.

RIP to the dead. May their soul rest in peace. Amen.

I beg put the 40 character yourself mod

Why has speaking the truth become such a crime in today's crimate. Pick your battles folks

This pastor is not a good pastor.
Nobody put poison in their food.
Rather they died of food poisoning caused by germs from improperly cooked or contaminated food.
They are unlucky,that it was a deadly form of bacteria that contaminated their food and their inability to access a good healthcare facility where their lives COULD have been saved with prompt and appropriate care.
A pastor should be educated,so that he doesn't spread false information,thus "poisoning the minds" of family against one another or community suspicions leading to strife and even further loss of innocent lives.

Likely a poorly processed fufu.
But my people Will find ways to point fingers at innocent people.

If you don't process fufu well, you'll overdose on cyanide.
People need to know this. If your fufu feels or tastes funny, discard!

seborrhic:
This pastor is not a good pastor.
Nobody put poison in their food.
Rather they died of food poisoning caused by germs from improperly cooked or contaminated food.
They are unlucky,that it was a deadly form of bacteria that contaminated their food and their inability to access a good healthcare facility where their lives COULD have been saved with prompt and appropriate care.
A pastor should be educated,so that he doesn't spread false information,thus "poisoning the minds" of family against one another or community suspicions leading to strife and even further loss of innocent lives.

Food poisoning hardly kill. It can be fatal but even in a country like Nigeria, its never a danger.

Let the police, the nursing council of Nigeria ( obviously, that nurse should lose her pin and be jailed) and the judge handle the case, not you who know nothing about the case except what you read here.

PotatoSalad:
Likely a poorly processed fufu.
But my people Will find ways to point fingers at innocent people.

If you don't process fufu well, you'll overdose on cyanide.
People need to know this. If your fufu feels or tastes funny, discard!

A poorly processed foofoo like you said as you know what they ate will hardly kill anyone.

Or have you seen who that has killed before?

post=136791673:
Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/punchng.com/enugu-family-loses-five-to-suspected-food-poisoning/%3famp

O God! What a tragedy. May their souls RIP Amen.

4 more characters

descarado:
Food poisoning hardly kill. It can be fatal but even in a country like Nigeria, its never a danger.

Let the police, the nursing council of Nigeria ( obviously, that nurse should lose her pin and be jailed) and the judge handle the case, not you who know nothing about the case except what you read here.

So which poison will someone put in a food that will wipe out an entire family without the person being seen?
Sometimes some of you people refuse to use a part,not even all of your God given common sense!
Ask yourself,when did the person sneak in to put poison in the food the entire family ate?
Or are you,like that fake pastor,a type that would believe it was a poison inserted by a ghost or spirit?
Have you ever seen what an improperly processed cassava can do to an individual when eaten?
Have you ever seen where someone ate an improperly cooked meal and the person comes down with so much pain,throwing up that it's as if the entire stomach wants to burst out from the body.
The useless talk by the fake and obviously poorly educated pastor that he saw the nurse inserting something into the mouth or nose of one of the family members after removing the oxygen was simply probably cotton wool after the mother had already died,reason why the nurse had to disconnect the oxygen.
Don't even be surprised the fake pastor came up with all these fairy tales to avoid settling the Hospital bill.

mercysamuelson:
This tragedy is heartbreaking—the sudden loss of nearly an entire family under suspicious circumstances is devastating. The story raises serious concerns about food safety, trust in healthcare, and community conflicts. Allegations of poisoning and negligence highlight the urgent need for a thorough investigation. Families should never face such violence or questionable medical practices. May the lone survivor find strength and may the victims’ memory demand accountability.

You dey use AI dey comment for nairaland? That's gross abvse of artificial intelligence. 🤸🏿‍♂️🤸

Evil nurses everywhere...May God help us

.May their soul and souls of faithful departed rest in peace.Amen.

descarado:
A poorly processed foofoo like you said as you know what they ate will hardly kill anyone.

Or have you seen who that has killed before?

Opeyemi Famakin said Nigerians are just too ignorant. Instead of you to learn something new, you dey here dey argue. Oya na whatever rocks your boat. I no get strength.

Why all this wickedness for goodness sake

May their Soul RIP and may their killers know no peace