A 16-year-old girl identified as Favour was on Thursday, July 22, made to tie a dead child on her back for hours after she was accused of allegedly feeding the dead child with a poison leaf known as ‘Gegemu’ in Yoruba (botanical name: Datura stramonium).
The incident took place in Kiagbodo, Burutu Local Government Area of Delta.
GRASSROOT REPORTERS gathered that the child, identified as 6-year-old Friday Okoko was rushed to General Hospital, Kiagbodo, where he was pronounced dead by the doctor on duty.
It is not independently clear whether the said leaf was responsible for the death of the child, but the family of the child believes their child died from complications arising from the ingestion of the leaf.
Eyewitnesses who spoke with GRASSROOT REPORTERS expressed sadness over the incident.
A brother of the deceased who spoke on condition of anonymity said the child fell ill few weeks ago and was rushed to the hospital where he was treated and discharged, but fell ill again on Thursday morning. He added that before his brother died, he told them that the accused (Favour), gave him the poisonous leaf to eat.
As of the time of filing this report, no security official was seen by our correspondent at the scene of the incident.
