Three pupils of Local Education Authority Primary School, Kubwa 2, Abuja, have died after eating biscuits. The deceased pupils, Naimat Yahaya, 14, and Yahaya Garba, also 14, died after returning home while the third victim, Moses Sunday, allegedly died at the Kubwa General Hospital. Two other pupils, Aisha Isa and Hasiya Haruna, were admitted at the hospital.
Fatima, Hasiya’s mother, told Punch Metro that the biscuit was shared at a party in the school. She claimed her daughter had said they were given by a ”Muslim sister”.
“There was a party in the school where my daughter was given biscuits with other pupils. We discovered that some pupils died at night.
“So, I asked her if she ate the biscuits and who gave her. She said it was shared to them by a Muslim sister and so I was satisfied with her explanation. But we were asked to take her to the hospital because some pupils died, so I decided to bring her here (Kubwa General Hospital),” she said.
Fatima stated that she gave Hasiya some herbal concoction at home when she complained about stomach pains, adding that she was apprehensive when she heard that other pupils had died. She lamented that they had not been attended to at the hospital.
The FCT police spokesman, Anjuguri Manzah, said the police had opened investigation into the incident, adding that the case would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department.
Confirming the incident, the FCT Administration Education Secretariat, in a statement by its spokesman, Tony Ogunleye, said three pupils lost their lives, while two others were hospitalised “in circumstances that are still under investigation from relevant authorities including the Nigeria Police Force and the Health and Human Services Secretariat of the FCT.” It added that the school, had been shut to enable investigating authorities to carry out a thorough assignment.
