SAD! Two-Year-Old Boy Dies After Eating Poisoned Rice In Lagos

There was confusion in the Ijora Badia area of Lagos State when a two-year-old boy, Ibrahim died after eating a plate of rice suspected to have been poisoned. PUNCH Metro learnt that the food was prepared by his mother, Fatimoh Azeez. Fatimoh, however, said the food was eaten by other members of her family who were not hurt, adding that she suspected that one of her sisters-in-law, Fatimoh Rasaki, who had visited her on the day of the incident, had a hand in the death of the child.

It was learnt that Fatimoh used to visit her boyfriend, Isa, regularly in his parents’ apartment on Olajide Street in the Ijora community. She was said to have become pregnant for him and was later delivered of the boy. The lovebirds were reportedly cohabiting in the house when Fatimoh’s parents took her and the baby away to their house on Akosile Street. Isa was reportedly allowed to visit both mother and child.

PUNCH Metro learnt that on one of such visits, Isa had a disagreement with his mother-in-law, which escalated into a fight with his girlfriend. Fatimoh’s family reportedly stopped him from visiting the child. His sisters, Fatimoh Rasaki and Latifah Musbau, both married with children, were said to be visiting Fatimoh’s family on the fateful Sunday to mediate in the couple’s dispute, when the child died. 

Fatimoh, in her statement to the police, said she was washing some clothes at the back of the house when she saw Rasaki spoon-feeding her child, which made her upset because she feared he could be poisoned. She said, “After I gave birth to my child, my husband’s people started maltreating me and sent me out of the house. I decided to stay with my parents. 

“On August 16, around 11am, I was washing clothes when I saw my two sisters-in-law coming into the house to meet my parents. “I saw as Fatimoh (Rasaki) carried my child and began to feed him with rice. I quickly rushed there and grabbed him from her and strapped him to my back. “After some time, I put him on the bed. Suddenly, he started shaking uncontrollably. I rushed him to a hospital, where the doctor said he had died. “I was the one who prepared the rice and it was eaten by all members of my family.”

PUNCH Metro learnt that the two sisters-in-law, upon hearing the news, rushed to the house. They were said to have been arrested by the policemen from the Ijora Badia division, before the case was transferred to the State Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba. Musbau, a tailor, however, denied having anything to do with the death of the child. She said the visit was at the instance of their late father, who pleaded with them to resolve the dispute between the two families.

A police source said the police were investigating a possible case of food poisoning. “It is still not clear what killed the child. But we are suspecting food poisoning. The remaining food eaten by the boy has already been packed for a test and we are awaiting the autopsy report. Once there is a problem with the food, the women will have a case to answer,” he said.