At least 4 folks have reportedly misplaced their lives, whereas 14 others have been hospitalised after allegedly consuming a poisonous herbal concoction purchased in Oju township, headquarters of Oju Local Government Area of Benue State.
The herbal merchandise had been reportedly bought to members of the Igede group by three males recognized as Alhaji Mai Magamani, Mohamed and Musa Kolo in the course of the Ihiejwo market day in Oju final weekend.
An eyewitness disclosed that the incident grew to become recognized on Monday, (*14*) 2, 2026, when a number of individuals who had bought and consumed the herbal preparations started experiencing related well being issues.
According to the eyewitness, a minimum of 14 different folks had been receiving medical consideration, with some mentioned to be in vital situation.
Following the incident, the three suspected herbal drugs sellers had been reportedly arrested by the Igede Youth Council, working alongside the Oju Local Government Township Youth management, earlier than being handed over to the police.
The Oju Divisional Police Headquarters was mentioned to have transferred the case to the Benue State Police Command for additional investigation.
While the suspects had been being handed over, the President of the Igede Youth Council, Comrade John-Frank Ozzidi, appealed to the Benue State Government to conduct a complete investigation and be certain that these accountable had been prosecuted.
Ozzidi recommended group members for refusing to take the regulation into their very own arms, noting that they’d allowed safety companies to take cost of the state of affairs.
He additionally appealed to elected and appointed political representatives from the realm to comply with up on the investigation to make sure that the circumstances surrounding the deaths had been uncovered and justice delivered.
Meanwhile, Chairman of Oju Local Government Council, Mr Jackson Ominyi, confirmed the incident however mentioned he couldn’t instantly confirm the full quantity of people that had died.
Ominyi defined that three deaths had been reported to him as of the day gone by, including that different victims had been receiving remedy on the General Hospital in Oju.
“My people are working on that. My security secretary and security adviser are on it.
“The others are in the General Hospital, Oju. My health department is also taking care of them.
I have tried to calm the situation down. The person selling the herbs was arrested and sent to Makurdi three days ago,” he mentioned.
Attempts to acquire feedback from the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Peter Aondongu, had been unsuccessful, as he didn’t reply to enquiries earlier than this report was filed.
