Two persons have reportedly died, and eight others hospitalalised after drinking tea prepared with leaf popularly called ‘Zakami’ at a wedding over the weekend at Sheka in Kumbotso local government area of Kano state.
The Ward Head of the area, Usman Musa Zakari confirmed this to journalists on Wednesday.
Other sources have however put the figure of the dead at seven.
Zakari gave the names of the two victims who lost their lives as Mubarak Bala, also known as Diga, and Ibrahim Khalil.
“it is true that the incident happened when the persons drank from a tea prepared with a local leaf called Zakami and a combination of other drugs.
“Two persons died and eight others were hospitalized; there are different versions of the stories being peddled.
“But I delegated persons to go on a fact-finding mission. And what we gathered was that only two persons lost their lives.
“Someone told me four persons lost their lives and I asked him to take me to the houses but he later told me that the figure was hearsay. So it is not true.
“Some also said seven died and that others were missing. All these are not true. Nobody is missing. They are not even strangers, as they are from across the streets nearby.
“There are other eight persons who were hospitalised after drinking from the tea but they have all been discharged and going about with their day-to-day activities,” Zakari said.
When contacted, the spokesperson of the Kano State Police Command, SP Abdullahi Haruna, said no formal report has been made, but promised to make enquiry and update the media.
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