People of Umuagu, in Umuahia, Abia State, are still reeling from the strange deaths of seven people following a suya and fruit juice dinner.
Mr. Sunday Ugba and some of his family members including several of his visitors died unnecessarily after a suya and fruit juice lunch late at night.
The father and other victims, including four children who were visiting for the holidays, perished after consuming suya and fruit juice that he purchased after a trip to Aba.
The electrician was claimed to have gone to his construction job in Aba, where he stayed the night, and then returned home with suya and fruit juice for the household to enjoy.
They were reported to have relaxed in the parlor after the meal to watch television, but by the next morning, seven of them were dead, along with all four children of a family friend staying at the property on vacation.
His wife was brought to the Federal Medical Centre in Umuahia, unconscious, where she was hospitalized and is currently recovering.
Aside from his wife, Mr. Sunday’s first daughter, Miss Ijeoma, stated she ate the suya and drank the juice but was unharmed.
She said, “I ate everything and nothing happened to me.”
Ijeoma, who claimed she was in good health, told Vanguard on Saturday that her dad and others were at the parlor watching the TV when she left them and went to her bedroom.
She claimed she awoke to find her mother nearly comatose, while her father and others in the parlor were dead. “I went to bed about 10:00 p.m, and in the morning I woke up to see the lifeless bodies of my dad and brothers and the four children on holiday in our house,” Ijeoma lamented.
She then raised an alert in response to the unexpected event, attracting neighbors and sympathizers to the scene.
Ijeoma, who spoke with our correspondent nervously, claimed she was still unsure of the cause of the unusual death.
Ijeoma said their generator had been in the same spot for the past six years they had lived in the family house, adding that only God knows what occurred.
She denied media claims that her father was a minister in the Assemblies of God church, claiming he was not a pastor, nor was a deacon.
Mr. Jasper Ejimofor, Secretary of the church where Mr. Sunday worshiped, also said that he was not a pastor.
The cause of death is yet unknown.
According to a source, generator fumes were not ruled out, as the family’s generator, which was kept under the stairs, went out around 3:00 am when it ran out of fuel.
The source says that the man was discovered dead, sitting in the parlor, implying that he had been watching TV with the kids.
The survivor’s daughter was claimed to have slept in a separate room and may not have been impacted by the fume.
However, the Abia State Police has said that investigations into the cause of the incident have begun.
SP Geoffrey Ogbonna, Abia State Police Public Relations Officer, claimed that no arrests had been made in relation to the sad tragedy.
Meanwhile, as the conclusion of the police investigation is anticipated, the Abia State Government has pleaded that everyone be calm.
Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu has instructed that the event be thoroughly investigated.
Chief Okiyi Kalu, the Commissioner for Information, asked the family of the deceased to be patient while security services examine the situation.
