Residents of sleepy Ode Irele woke up on April 15 to a mysterious ailment killing people.
Irele, which lies 140 kilometres south of Akure, has not known peace since the outbreak of the disease which has claimed more than 18 lives.
Some are fleeing the town but the state government has urged them to stay calm as an element of good news has been reported.
Sudden destruction without remedy?
Traditionalists speculate that the mysterious disease broke out because some indigenes stole artefacts from a shrine to make money.
The Oyewoga of Ode Irele, Moses Enimade, said the ailment was caused by the sacrilege done to Malokun, the god of the land. He denied the rumour that the deaths were caused by a strange disease or Ebola virus.
Enimade recounted that some youths broke into the inner room of Malokun shrine on April 15. “Malokun is a deity of the land, only the chief priest and high chief Gboguron are qualified to enter the shrine,” he explained.
He alleged that the youths entered the shrine and made away with traditional items to acquire extraordinary powers and engage in money ritual.
“They were not qualified to enter the room (shrine). They had to face the death penalty.”
He said he could not remember the last time Malokun or any other local god struck like this in the town.
“There is no community or town without its own culture and tradition, what happened in Irele is the judgment of the gods on stubborn youths.
“Even the kabiyesi (traditional ruler) himself is not permitted to enter Malokun shrine’s inner room. Only the chief priest and high chief Gboguron can. And sacrifice must be performed before they can enter.
“Because these youths wanted to be rich at all costs, they entered the sacred place and made away with traditional items, and 20 of them have died as a result of their desperate act.
“We have to appease the gods or else many will still die and we have to bury them according to tradition. Their corpses belong to the gods and will be exhumed if buried by their families.”
Enimade emphasised that death caused by Malokun is characterised by severe headache and blindness.
“Proverbs 29:1 in the Bible says: ‘he that had been reproved and hardened his neck shall suddenly be destroyed without remedy.’ So the youths of nowadays must be careful,” he warned in an interview with TheNiche.
“During our community market day which holds every five days, some of the palace chiefs usually go to the Malokun shrine located within the area to offer prayers to it to protect the state and bless the community and its indigenes both at home and in the Diaspora,” he recounted in another interview with Punch.
“While we left the shrine exactly 10 days today [Saturday, April 18], some hoodlums invaded the shrine and carted away effigies and historical artifacts belonging to our forebears kept in rooms in the shrine.
“We went to the shrine and invoked the spirit of the deity, requesting it to punish those who looted the shrine.
“We asked Malokun to make them blind and kill them all. Few days after, we started hearing that some persons had headache, went blind and died few hours after. Some of them turned black, no matter how fair-skinned they were before the illness.
“It was Malokun that punished them. The majority of them were aged between 25 and 35 years. Science cannot prove it. It is spiritual. Our belief is that those people did not contract any disease, it was Malokun at work.
“We have not recovered any of the stolen items. They were not able to talk when we saw some of them until they died. The government recorded 18 deaths but some were buried without the knowledge of the community or the government.
“We have never witnessed such a case before. It was the first time it occurred. I am 87 years old now and I became a chief in the community 47 years ago.
Residents seek solution
A resident of Irele, Ayo Masemi, pleaded with the chief priest to make atonement to avert further calamity.
“We are all afraid and the news has given the town and the state a bad name. I am only appealing to the chief priest to, as a matter of urgency, perform necessary rituals to stop the calamity.
“Many youths do not believe in all these traditions and customs. It is high time parents warned their children against committing sacrilege. Parents should warn their children against going near shrines,” he said.
Another resident, Akin Ojagbanitemi, said: “Malokun goddess is angry with us and this has been revealed by our priests. We have begun the spiritual cleansing as all women in the town fetch a bucket of water each to pour at Malokun shrine.”
Disease not contagious
The disease is not contagious, according to Health Commissioner, Dayo Adeyanju, who made the declaration in Akure.
He said post mortems carried out on the victims and other laboratory tests revealed that the disease is not epidemic or contagious, and the preliminary report showed that ethanol poison mixed with roots was found in the systems of all the victims.
His words: “Our investigations have also revealed that the victims, who, interestingly, were all Okada (motorcycle taxi) riders, gathered at some local joints to consume alcoholic substance mixed with roots and some other local herbs on the eve of the outbreak of the disease.
“I can assure you that the disease is in no way contagious. The fact that none of the caregivers has contracted the disease has greatly underscored this point.
“Therefore, the fear of spread does not arise and should be discouraged. We strongly suspect ethanol poison, and in view of this, we have ordered for another toxicology test for surviving victims.”
Mimiko calms, stokes nerves
Governor Olusegun Mimiko calmed the nerves of the residents and said the dead should be properly buried in body bags in a designated place to curtail the spread of the disease.
But Mimiko’s statement infuriated locals and devotees of Malokun who insisted that the corpses would be buried in an evil forest to appease the angry god.
The Ebola Alert group had sent blood samples of the victims to Lagos for laboratory tests. The result, tagged #OndoX, show that it is not Ebola virus. The samples also tested negative to five other deadly diseases.
The authorities said 18 people have died of the mysterious disease, but unofficial sources put it twice as high.
A statement personally signed by Mimiko insisted that the laboratory tests did not reveal the cause of death.
The statement read in part: “Amidst conflicting and confusing information, the investigating team of experts sent by the government to the area gathered that all the casualties died within hours of affliction.
“In all, 17 deaths have been confirmed in Ayadi community and Ode Irele township and all the deaths were preceded by symptoms of sudden blurred vision, headache and loss of consciousness.
“It must be said that the team was dispatched to the communities affected and the General Hospital as well as other health facilities, to gather needed information about the nature, scope and circumstances of the outbreak.
“Key informants interview, hospital record search and patient interview were used to obtain information.
“I must state that the symptoms in this situation are not peculiar to any known epidemic and so have remained largely confounding.
“Specifically, it must be stressed, the symptoms observed in the two communities of Ayadi and Ode Irele bear no resemblance to those associated with the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).”
But Jimi Adekanle, another indigene of Irele, disagreed with Mimiko, attributing the disease to a breach of tradition by some residents of the town, and said the gods have to be appeased.
He confirmed that those who died initially lost their sights and traditionalists are making rituals to seek forgiveness on behalf of those who stole artefacts from Malokun shrine.
Findings on the ground
A statement issued by Ayomide Sanni, the medical doctor who oversees Electric Energy Company Hospital, Omotosho, Ondo State, also supported the official position.
Sanni said a report by Soyombo Ayomikun who led a team of doctors from the hospital to Irele noted that five people were admitted with symptoms including headache, loose stool, sudden blindness, difficulty with speaking, high blood pressure, and intracranial pressure.
All the patients are male, middle-aged, and all developed the illness at about the same time. Two died. Three insisted on being discharged against medical advice. They left the hospital on April 15. One of them reportedly died at home.
The report said: “From our interactions with the medical team in the hospital there is speculation that a seed yet to be identified probably consumed by the victims could have resulted in symptoms indicative of poisoning.
“Blood and CSF samples were taken from the victims that were present at the hospital and … sent to LUTH [Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos] for comprehensive analysis.
“Personally, my conclusion following our trip to Irele General Hospital is that it is not likely that a contagious disease is on break although one can never say never!
“Furthermore, the signs and symptoms of the admitted patients are not entirely in keeping with those of Ebola Virus Disease and other ailments in the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Spectrum.
“However, definitive conclusions can be made once the investigation results are available.
“In conclusion, the calm observed in the town is not reminiscent of the looming disaster we heard about before setting out.”
Poisoning substance being ascertained, says Abuja
The Federal Ministry of Health also confirmed that preliminary laboratory findings indicate that the outbreak could not be attributed to any infection or Ebola virus.
Minister of State for Health, Fidelis Nwankwo, said in Abuja on Monday, April 20 that at the last count, 18 of out 23 victims have died, and the remaining five are receiving treatment at University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.
According to him, epidemiological findings showed a strong link of the disease with the consumption of a local gin likely contaminated with methanol.
His words: “At this stage the particular poisonous substance is being ascertained. The results of these detailed investigations currently being conducted by the government and partners are still being awaited and will be made public as soon as possible.
“The assuring news, however, is that no new cases have been reported in the past 100 hours and no new mortality in the last 72 hours.
“We therefore believe that the situation is under control and that the stability will be sustained, while active case search and contact tracing continue in earnest.”
Nwankwo urged the public to remain calm but “very vigilant” and to report any event of public health concern to the nearest health facility or health authority.
Science fingers ethanol
Information and Strategy Commissioner, Kayode Akinmade, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the preliminary report of the cause of the deadly disease showed ethanol poisoning.
“It is not a contagious disease or a viral infection, that means it cannot be transmitted from one person to another ….
“The initial investigation conducted shows ethanol, maybe as a result of the local gin which manifested in some of the laboratory result taken from the deceased.
“The government has sent for toxicology test, the toxicology test will determine if the disease can be pinned down to ethanol,” he said.
“There is cheery news to this, because we have been able to curtail the disease and it is not expanding and only limited to those who had contacted it, it is not an epidemic.
“The WHO [World Health Organisation’s] report which attributed the outbreak to the use of herbicides by the community cannot be relied upon until the full report of the test is out.
“Before we can substantiate the WHO report, we must get all the tests, and the reports must be verified scientifically, so it has to be scientifically proven.
“Those reports are speculative, but the full report of the test will be ready any moment from now and we will be able to identify the cause of the disease.
“The locals have their own speculations too, saying, that maybe their god is trying to fight those who desecrated its shrine.
“Government does not believe what has not been scientifically proven and so it cannot be substantiated.’’
WHO denies making statement
WHO Country Representative, Rui Vaz, denied report that the body has made a statement on the outbreak.
He said what has been agreed is that “if there is any statement this will be done together jointly by the Federal Ministry of Health and the WHO, as we did for Ebola, as we did when we eradicated guinea worm, and all other diseases.
“So, this is not correct, the information that has been circulating about the disease [in Ode Irele] is not from WHO country office of Nigeria.”
List of casualties
A statement issued by Irele General Hospital listed the casualties as of Friday, April 17 as Olorunwa Jero (45), Okorie Sunday (45), Tobi Adeleye (37), Babatunde Omosuwa (35), Segun Oyewole (45).
Omolane Jimmy (32), Olowoporoku George (75), Ologbonjaiye Adebayo (48), Olowojesiku Ajorinde (42), Ogbodo Kehinde (32), Taiwo Obadiah (22).
Michael Aribo (35), Adun Emmanuel (52), Sunday Jero (48), Omogunloye Koko (25), Aro Omosuyi (43), Oshodi Felix (58), and Shina Adewudu (35).
The hospital said only Olorunwa Jero is alive among the victims.