24 Die After Drinking Herbal Drink in Ondo

Health officials say preliminary findings point to locally brewed alcoholic beverages, but toxicology results are still awaited.

At least 24 people have died in Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State after apparently consuming a suspected herbal substance, with authorities cautioning that the exact cause of death has not yet been confirmed.

Police said eight deaths occurred in Araromi Obu and sixteen in Odigbo town over the weekend. Some victims reportedly died at home, while others were found dead in their sleep, after consuming sachet herbal concoctions of unverified origin.

Police spokesperson DSP Jimoh Abayomi said investigations, including medical and toxicological examinations, were ongoing, and cautioned the public against “spreading unverified information or attributing the deaths to any particular substance.”

The Permanent Secretary of the Ondo State Ministry of Health said preliminary findings suggested “a possible link between the deaths and the consumption of locally brewed alcoholic beverages,” though officials stopped short of a definitive conclusion pending full toxicology results. Various early accounts have referred to the substance as a “locally produced drink” and a herbal and ethanol-based mixture, underscoring that its precise composition has not yet been officially established.

No arrests have been announced in connection with the deaths, and the number of people hospitalised has not been officially specified beyond confirmation that “others were hospitalised.”

Authorities have urged residents in the affected communities and beyond to avoid consuming suspicious herbal concoctions or unverified sachet products until investigations are concluded, warning that the source and contents of such products often cannot be independently verified before sale.

The case has renewed public concern over the circulation of unregulated herbal and alcoholic concoctions in parts of the South-West, and further updates are expected as toxicology results become available.