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Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave - Health - Nairaland

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Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by iliyande(m): 11:57am On Feb 20, 2018
Eight in 10 drivers drive under the influence of alcohol –Study

Chidi Mbachu stays buried in the earth. Six feet under. At 21, she was rushed into the grave, because her torso got separated from her limbs by a truck driver.

The driver hit her from the back and rode over her with the front and rear wheels. Mbachu split in unequal halves, her eyes bulging and veins strained against her temple. “She cut a horrid sight. So, her siblings hastened her interment to spare everyone the grief of seeing her mangled body,” revealed Ufuoma, a friend of the deceased.

Nobody loves to remember Mbachu’s grisly death. Folk remember her as the “quiet girl” who suddenly flipped and tried to stop a moving truck with her lean frame. Her friends remember her final moments in a mist of sobs and stifled pain.

Alcohol was at the root of Mbachu’s death. Svelte and easy on the eyes, the Architecture undergraduate was reportedly drunk at the time of her death. She was returning from a friend’s birthday soiree cum drinking binge at a neighbourhood pub when she encountered the truck driver.

“We were very high and she was driving very fast. She later reduced her speed after I begged her to drive carefully. That was when the truck driver bashed her from behind. Chidi obstructed his path with her car, causing him to stop. He got down and threatened to beat us. Then they got in a heated argument and Chidi slapped him.

“Angrily, the driver twisted her arm but his motor boy urged him to leave her and he shoved Chidi angrily against me. We collapsed in a heap while he got behind his truck wheels. He started his engine but Chidi sprang to the front of his truck, pushing it back with her bum.

“I begged her to leave the truck and let him go. I was scared he would make good his threat of running her over. He reeked of alcohol and marijuana. He seemed quite inebriated and capable of anything. The driver eventually pushed Chidi with his truck and she fell. She got up, screaming and ran to her boot. She picked a wheel spanner and leapt to smash it against the truck’s windscreen. In that moment, the driver lurched forward and ran over her,” said Ufuoma.

Chidi’s killer attempted to make off but an angry mob prevented his escape, according to Ufuoma. “Eventually, he got what he deserved,” she said.

There is no gainsaying that alcohol triggered the tragedy that consumed Chidi and her assailant. But while the duo engaged each other on a more personal level, the 31 bus passengers who suffered untimely death due to their drivers’ drunkenness further attests to the magnitude of Nigeria’s drinking problem.

The victims were confirmed dead, while seven others were seriously injured when two 18-passenger buses loaded with passengers collided with another vehicle on the Lagos-Ibadan highway.

Cyril Mathew, the Oyo State Head of Operations, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), blamed the accident on reckless driving even as FRSC officers at the scene of the accident alleged drivers’ drunkenness. The drivers both reeked of alcohol during rescue operations, revealed FRSC officers.

Eight in 10 Nigerian drivers drive under the influence of alcohol, according to the National Crime and Safety Survey by CLEEN Foundation. The study revealed that about 79 per cent of motorists admit that they “sometimes” or “always” consume alcohol before driving.

“The abuse of alcohol has been identified as a leading cause of accidents across the globe and has been identified as a leading traffic offence committed by drivers,” said Daniel Nengak, Program Manager, CLEEN Foundation.

ALCOHOL AND VIOLENCE

The link between alcohol and violent criminal behaviour is also well documented. “The pharmacological properties of alcohol can be of effect to an individual particularly when taken at a high dose. It might inhibit and lead to impulsivity, aggression, abusiveness, argumentativeness, agitation and grandiosity in the abuser, which ultimately results in the impairment of judgment and violent crimes,” according to Dr. Aishatu Yusha’u Armiya’u, Head of Forensic Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Plateau State.

A study conducted at a maximum security prison in North-central Nigeria by Armiya’u and Alina Perez of the Department of Psychology, University of Liverpool Health and Life Sciences, United kingdom (UK), revealed that of the awaiting trial and convicted inmates, 60 per cent had used alcohol and illegal drugs before their current offense; 37.3 per cent were charged with an offence of armed robbery, while 28 per cent had a diagnosis of substance use disorder.

High alcohol outlet density is also a reliable predictor of violent and other crimes. A study conducted in Los Angeles County, for example, found that an increase of one outlet was associated with 3.4 additional violent incidents in a year.

And adding one bar to a residential block in Bayelsa State was estimated to result in 3.38 more crimes being committed in that block in a year. Similarly, in an examination of alcohol availability and homicide in the country, a 10 percent higher off-sale outlet density was predicted to result in a 2.4 percent higher homicide rate.

Over the last few years, alcohol sale spots have multiplied across the country; from street corner stalls to expansive liquor bars, alcohol lovers enjoy to their hearts’ delight, the luxury of exclusive and make-shift watering holes. These numerous spots whet and sate the appetite of ubiquitous binge drinkers, who often fall victim of their insatiable lusts.

BOTTLE FULL OF TROUBLE

At least five persons reportedly died from methanol poisoning after consuming local gin allegedly sold by Uwadiegu Eze, a native of Umunakara community, in the Ngor-Okpala Local Government Area of Imo State. The victims were identified as Daniel Nwosu Jnr. (Male, 45); Friday Osuji (Male, 70); Ifeanyi Njoku (Male, 31), Mrs. Adanna Iheanacho (Female, 60) and one Benjamin Okoroafor.

The deceased allegedly patronized Eze’s gin shop between Tuesday, November 14 and Friday, November 17, 2017; consequently, they experienced body stiffness and partial blindness which culminated in their demise.

Eze reportedly fled when he learnt that consumers of his product were dying. In the wake of the tragedy, the Imo State Ministry of Health, dispatched a team headed by the Director of Centre for Disease Control, Dr. Okeji, to the disaster scene.

Okeji lamented that despite several episodes of methanol poisoning arising from local gin consumption in various parts of the country, people still patronised distillers who used methanol to boost production of the gin in order to increase their profits.

Three years earlier, Nigeria stirred to the sad news of an alcohol-induced tragedy when the Rivers State Government disclosed that 70 of the 80 persons who took contaminated local gin, also known as Ogogoro, in Woji and Gokana areas of the state had died.

“The rest survived while two had visual impairment as a result of the drink,” said Nnanna Onyekwere, the Director Public Health Services,

Rivers Ministry of Health.

Despite the obvious dangers of alcohol consumption, Kola Soyode, a steel factory worker, is addicted to its herbal variants. The latter attested to the efficacy of herbal alcoholic beverages prepared with Ogogoro, widely called “Paraga” or “Sekpe,” in treating fever and as a libido enhancer.

Bolanle, aka Ibadi ara, sells herbal liquor in Lagos and her joint is the favourite of Soyode, David and other alcohol takers. According to her, she uses original Ogogoro for her potions. “There is no stipulated dosage. You can take as much as you can consume if your body can withstand it. Real men can go several rounds without losing their strength and their heads,” she said.

Despite its touted benefits, lust for alcoholic beverages led to the sudden death of Saidi Taiwo. The 32-year-old suddenly slumped and died soon after his wife gave birth to a baby boy. Taiwo died at Apata-Ganga area of Ibadan, Oyo State, after consuming locally-made herbal gin.

Similar cases abound in rural areas, involving sudden death of hardnosed alcoholics. The sad case of a 40-year-old farmer hospitalised at the Neurology Clinic of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu, is instructive to note.

The native of Eha-Alumona community in Enugu State presented to the Neurology Clinic with complaints of recurrent difficulty in walking spanning 10-year duration. He had taken alcohol in excess for over 10 years with a preference for local gin, spirits and beer. Over the years, he became unable to walk. But a week prior to his presentation at the clinic, he developed fever and tremors of the hands with disorientation.

Further medical examination revealed that he suffered Multiple Sclerosis, a disease which affects the central nervous system. There had been no published report of a case of multiple sclerosis in South East Nigeria with such clinical and radiologic correlations as the patient’s until he presented his case at UNTH, according to the head of the medical team responsible for the treatment of the patient, Dr. Ikenna Onwuekwe, of the Neurology Unit, Department of Medicine, UNTH.

WHY YOU SHOULD NOT BINGE ON OGOGORO, OTHER ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

While the rich consume expensive variants of liquor, the poor resort to cheaper beer, alcoholic beverages or Ogogoro. The latter potions have been a cause of great concern among health experts in the country.

Medical studies reveal that the burning sensation in the throat associated with Ogogoro and the fact that it catches fire when exposed to naked flame are indications of its injurious effects on human body.

The high acid value and percentage alcohol content of Ogogoro makes dependence on it as a source of alcoholic drink very dangerous. This is due to the associated conditions of high level of acid in the liver (acidosis), a condition which if untreated, leads to cirrhosis of the liver, according to health experts.

NOT A TYPICALLY PLEASANT PICTURE

More than two-thirds of local alcoholic beverages analysed by Professor Kehinde Oluwadiya, Dean, Faculty of Clinical Sciences College of Medicine and Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon and Traumatologist, Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EUTH), “had ethanol strength that was either equal to or stronger than beers.”

According to the professor, in the preparation of the paraga samples analysed, there were no specific recipes, the processes involved no calibrations or weighing of ingredients…therefore, the production should come under scrutiny, because the haphazard ways they are prepared may pose other health risks apart from those due to their alcoholic contents.”

There is a strong correlation between excessive alcohol use and an increased risk of developing alcoholic liver disease, cardiovascular disease, malabsorption, chronic pancreatitis, and some form of cancer, he said.

DRINK AND THE LAW ENFORCER

In the wake of recent debate about the need to co-opt local law enforcers in the fight against drunk driving, illicit alcohol production and addiction, certain happenstances indicate the likely failure of such efforts.

Recently, the video of a drunk police officer went viral on the social media. In the video, the officer was found sleeping in filthy water after drinking to stupor. The officer allegedly left his duty post and went to a drinking joint where he got plastered with liquor. On his way home, he decided to take a nap in the gutter. The officer slept soundly as a passersby took photographs and made a video of him for upload to social media.

But rather than sleep in gutters, some officers simply get trigger-happy and shoot innocent citizens to death. Few people would forget in a hurry, the tragic killing of three persons by a drunken police Inspector at a child’s dedication ceremony in Warri, Delta State recently.

The killer was reportedly drunk and leading a team of escorts guarding advance fee fraudsters popularly called “Yahoo Boys,” when he opened fire.

These sad incidents occur few years after an Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG Zone 4, Mike Zuokomor, said he would not spare any police officer who indulges in drugs, alcohol and acts of indolence.

A NATION OF GIN GUZZLERS

A recent report by a market research group, Global Data, indicated that beer consumption in Africa is estimated to grow by a five percent (5%) annual growth rate (AGR) between 2015 and 2020. The figure is the highest growth rate across all continents in the world.

With an average beer consumption of 12.28 litres per year, Nigeria leads the top 10 biggest beer drinking countries in Africa. The report, however, revealed that beer makes up just 16 percent of alcohol consumption in Nigeria, while other alcoholic drinks make up 84 percent due to the high popularity of home-brewed beverages in the country.

A subsequent study further stated that most alcohol consumers in the country are now switching to herbal mixed alcoholic drinks. This trend saw a rise in the patronage of herbal gin, according to the report, most of which are declared unfit for consumption by the National Association for Food and Drugs Control (NAFDAC).

TO TAME A SCOURGE

Considering the prevalence of alcohol-related road traffic injuries in the country, Prof. Oluwadiya suggested a policy to restrict access to all alcoholic beverages (including paraga) in motor and motorcycle parks across the country.

A sustainable health education campaign should be established in motor and motorcycle parks to educate drivers and motorcycle riders on the harmful effects of alcohol, he said, adding that the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) should be empowered to carry out routine alcohol breath checks on the road.

Health experts equally urged NAFDAC to rise up to the challenges of regulating the production, distribution and sales alcoholic beverages in the country.

Precautionary measures should, however, be extended to ill-fated youngsters like Chidi, who allegedly “grew up in an abusive home.”

It takes a good deal of courage to live in an abusive home and Chidi sought it from a gin bottle. At 16, she got it at N100 a flask.

Her father and stepmom were heavy drinkers who were barely home, revealed her friend Ufuoma. “So, she started alcohol sampling from their cellar with her step brothers. When their parents found out. They beat them severely and started locking the drink cabinet. But they had their ways of getting liquor. Sometimes, I indulged with them. We drank anything, from expensive gin to the local gin (Ogogoro). Chidi loved taking local gin because it made her feel high faster than expensive liquor.”

Chidi found alcohol an opiate well in advance of modern medical intervention or soul food of any kind, until her sad end.

The liquor-fog probably wore off the instant Chidi got hit by the truck driver. Anger morphed to fear, then outright horror, as the truck rode over her svelte frame, crushing her, splitting her in two, till her innards spilled untidily from her mouth and separated halves.


http://thenationonlineng.net/death-gin-bottle/

CC: Lalasticlala

11 Likes

Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by bigtt76(f): 12:35pm On Feb 20, 2018
Sad. reading all these cry May their soul rest in peace. Amen

14 Likes 1 Share

Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by shagasha: 12:48pm On Feb 20, 2018
i dnt believe the first story

1 Like 1 Share

Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by Papiikush: 1:51pm On Feb 20, 2018
Funny thing is Marijuana is not as deadly as alcohol but still illegal. Are we not confused in this country?

********
Kosewe, kosepo (4x)

Won ti po omi gutter pò

Oju ti dirty

Won ti po chemical pò

Awon omo science student cheesy

24 Likes

Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by nkwuocha: 1:51pm On Feb 20, 2018
Many Nigerians drink out of frustration.
I've seen instances where young men prefer to take a cheap bottle of Chelsea in place of good food. Reason being that at least it helps them sleep to forget their sorrows. In as much as there are dangers as a result of excess abuse of alcohol, I don't see it coming down anytime soon. E be like say alcohol go sell well for Buhari second term grin grin grin grin.Especially for the Middle Beltans and south West. grin grin grin.
Funny how bloodshot those agbero boys eyes dey be grin grin grin E Fara bale!!!!

Se erujeje owa? Captain Jack nko, se kosi Chelsea?fun Mi Baby oku meji, BULL meta, Alomo meta,Ogidiga meji, seaman meta.

As for we in the SOUTH EAST, we go dey "HERO" the Hunger dey go.

17 Likes 1 Share

Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by Nobody: 1:51pm On Feb 20, 2018
RIP. Others should learn from this please.

1 Like 1 Share

Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by Gangster1ms: 1:52pm On Feb 20, 2018
I don't drink again..


All i do is fvck beautiful chicks

7 Likes

Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by ct2: 1:52pm On Feb 20, 2018
something must kill a man

7 Likes 1 Share

Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by Laple0541(m): 1:52pm On Feb 20, 2018
Bros @ op, na all your final year project you pour here ni, the epistle de long now!

The points are taken though, joblessness, ineffective system of governance and lack of self control are the reasons we found ourselves in such situation. It's really eating deep on our societal values.
Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by Suko110(m): 1:52pm On Feb 20, 2018
Hmm

Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by Tybabe0001(m): 1:52pm On Feb 20, 2018
Am learning a new lesson
Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by Ellabae(f): 1:52pm On Feb 20, 2018
shagasha:
i dnt believe the first story
Lol nor be small o cheesy
Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by boolet: 1:53pm On Feb 20, 2018
cheesy
Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by tosyne2much(m): 1:53pm On Feb 20, 2018
I fit bet my life say 95% of Nairalanders no go read that voluminous write-up. Them go only comment based on the title cheesy

35 Likes

Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by oake(m): 1:53pm On Feb 20, 2018
I tell you. It's alarming ... As if every one is trying to escape the harsh reality.. grin

1 Like 1 Share

Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by buffalowings4: 1:55pm On Feb 20, 2018
M
Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by BABANGBALI: 1:55pm On Feb 20, 2018
The only thing I drink is water and breast milk especially sour breasts. Labake1 is my witness

2 Likes

Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by buffalowings4: 1:56pm On Feb 20, 2018
Gangster1ms:
I don't drink again..


All i do is fvck beautiful chicks

You're the wisest man on this thread.


More kpekus to your blokos

Always use protection sha

Me I use bante and condoms
And they've never failed me

4 Likes

Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by Gangster1ms: 1:58pm On Feb 20, 2018
buffalowings4:


You're the wisest man on this thread.


More kpekus to your blokos

Always use protection sha
Me I use ibadi and condoms
Haha grin
Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by GraciousKnaan1(m): 2:00pm On Feb 20, 2018
So You Expect Me To Read All This Write Up?? when a single Picture Can Tell It All...This is Gangalious

1 Like

Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by Valfrankie(m): 2:00pm On Feb 20, 2018
Sad! But ugh, well you know, beer is an amazing drink when taken in moderation. Heineken is one such fantastic beer. Give me some more bottles.
SAY NO TO SPIRITS AND HARD LIQUORS!
DRINK BEER!!!!
Don't drink and Drive!
Don't Drive if you must Drink.
Stay Safe!
Peace!

3 Likes 1 Share

Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by Praktikals(m): 2:00pm On Feb 20, 2018
Am I supposed to read this epistle? God forbid bad thing.
Pls click like if, like me, you just scrolled to the bottom, to see the shayo masters.
Sometimes we need to drink to forget our sorrow jare

8 Likes

Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by 400billionman: 2:01pm On Feb 20, 2018
She was fighting a truck driver.. .

Hmm
Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by Nobody: 2:02pm On Feb 20, 2018
.
Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by Habibatuley23: 2:02pm On Feb 20, 2018
Why am I surprise intoxicants of any sort are synonymous to violence of all sort Gbam!

Where u dey wey Quran,Bible give bleeping admonitions against intoxicants,Ehn?

1 Like

Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by BarrackGhost(m): 2:03pm On Feb 20, 2018
Gangster1ms:
I don't drink again..


All i do is fvck beautiful chicks

Congratulations, what an achievement

1 Like

Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by jashar(f): 2:03pm On Feb 20, 2018
ladeb:
SINCE BUHARI DON TAKE OVER NKO

that art, says alot...
Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by Gangster1ms: 2:04pm On Feb 20, 2018
BarrackGhost:


Congratulations, what an achievement
Thank u mahn
Re: Death In A Gin Bottle: How Nigerians Are Drinking Themselves To The Grave by Csami(m): 2:04pm On Feb 20, 2018
Lol! The danger of a one sided story. Nobody talks about those created by alcohol.

1 Like

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