48 Dead in Nigeria From Suspected Methanol-Laced Drink
The Facts
- At least 48 people have died and about 100 others are receiving treatment in southern Nigeria's Ondo after consuming a locally brewed alcoholic drink suspected to contain methanol, officials said Thursday.
- Ondo State Commissioner for Health Banji Ajaka said 182 people are believed to have been affected in the Odigbo and Irele local government areas, and that some of those who fell ill have since been discharged from hospital.
- Ajaka said urine samples from victims pointed to suspected methanol, adding that the drink can rapidly cause kidney failure, loss of vision and brain damage. The first cases were reported in two Odigbo communities on Sept. 5.
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The Spin
Pro-government narrative
Forty-eight deaths and 182 cases demand action, and the government is taking it by shutting down illegal production, removing toxic brews from the market and holding those responsible to account. Authorities have also launched a crackdown on illicit alcohol, made arrests and moved against the sachet trade that puts cheap liquor in kids' hands.
Government-critical narrative
Arrests alone won't stop Nigeria's deadly methanol problem. Methanol is tasteless and odorless; symptoms can take 48 hours to show, and by then serious damage to the kidneys, eyes and brain may have occurred — which is why Britain just added Nigeria to its methanol warning list. Testing, public alerts and affordable safe alcohol save lives; arrests after the funerals do not.