The death toll from a suspected mass poisoning linked to locally brewed alcoholic and herbal concoctions in Ondo State has risen to 32, health and security authorities said on Friday, as investigators race to identify what caused the deaths.
Taiwo Adegoroye, chairman of Odigbo Local Government Area, disclosed the latest figure to the News Agency of Nigeria, noting that an undetermined number of other residents remain hospitalised in Ore, Araromi-Obu and surrounding communities. The deaths have so far been recorded across Odigbo and Araromi-Obu.
The toll has climbed steadily since the incident surfaced earlier in the week, when residents began falling ill after consuming locally produced alcoholic or herbal substances. The state government first confirmed 24 deaths, comprising eight in Araromi-Obu and 16 in Odigbo, before the figure rose to 30 and then to 32.
Authorities have yet to confirm that the suspected drinks are definitively responsible. Ondo State Commissioner for Health, Banji Ajaka, said preliminary findings had already ruled out viral and bacterial infections as likely causes. Samples of the suspected substances, along with blood and urine samples from affected patients, have been collected for laboratory analysis, and post-mortem examinations are planned.
Some accounts from the affected communities have pointed to herbal alcoholic mixtures, including a concoction known locally as “Monkey Tail,” but officials say no specific product has been scientifically confirmed as the cause.
Police have arrested the seller of the suspected concoction, Adegoroye said, while the police and Amotekun Corps have launched a broader enforcement operation against herbal concoction sellers across the local government. The council has also suspended the sale and trade of herbal concoctions in sachets, plastic containers and other packaging across Odigbo LGA.
Beyond enforcement, the local government is running a public education campaign, engaging traditional rulers, market leaders and commercial motorists, alongside radio and social media warnings against unregulated herbal preparations.
The investigation now involves toxicologists and medical practitioners from the Ondo State Ministry of Health, NAFDAC, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organisation, according to Adegoroye.
The Ondo State Government has urged residents to avoid producing, selling or consuming unauthorised and uncertified substances while the probe continues, and has appealed to the public to refrain from spreading unverified claims about the cause of the deaths.
The incident has reignited concern over unregulated alcoholic and herbal mixtures whose ingredients, production conditions and safety profiles often go unverified. For now, the central question remains open: what substance triggered the illnesses and deaths. Laboratory analysis, toxicology results and post-mortem findings are expected to determine whether the suspected preparations were responsible, and if so, what contaminant was involved.
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