A community in Ondo battles unknown ailment

The shrine

By Femi Makinde and Gbenga Adeniji

Despite the hue and cry over recent deaths in Ode-Irele in Irele Local Government Area of Ondo State, residents carry on without care.

Motorists irritatingly blared horns, shops opened for sales, children ran gaily on the streets, relaxation joints were filled to the brim and soothing music filtered loudly from speakers in halls where ceremonies held.

The above scenario captured activities in Irele, a town in Ondo State when our correspondents arrived the place on Saturday. It looked as if it was not the town in the news lately where scores of lives were reportedly lost to unknown ailment in the past few days.

With caution, our correspondents approached some of the residents, keeping measured distances as directions were sought to areas. This was expected especially as the ailment, which had reportedly killed 17 male adults, exhibited symptoms such as headache, blurred vision and sudden death.

Most of the residents were not unaware of the magnitude of the issue at hand.

In fact, one of them laughed heartily when he learnt that the belief was that the ailment could have afflicted many of the inhabitants. “We are fine here. Nothing is wrong with us,” he said.

Another resident, Mr. Jobi Enimade, said he was not bothered by the stories flying around about the deaths in the town.

He said, “We heard many of the stories regarding the development. People need to come to Irele to see things. As you can see, we are fine and no unknown ailment has killed us.”

The visit to the palace of the Olofun of Irele, Oba Olanrewaju Lebi (Oyenusi), was not eventful as he was said to have been out of town before the incident occurred.

The Oyewoga of Irele, Chief Moses Oyewole, who spoke on his behalf, linked the deaths to the invasion of a shrine known as Malokun where he said some hoodlums carted away precious items belonging to their forefathers kept in the place. He added that the palace chiefs later met at the shrine to invoke the deity to visit the perpetrators with strange ailment.

Two of the victims who spoke with SUNDAY PUNCH, however, denied entering the shrine or knowing its location. They attributed the cause of their plight to unknown causes.

But one symptom is common — they are all blind. Only one of them could see but then, his vision is not something to cheer about.

But Oyewole earlier said that none of those who looted from the shrine would disclose that they were there, adding, “They will not reveal that they stole from the shrine because if they say the truth, they will die. If they do not say the truth, they will still die. Hence, they will conclude that it is better to keep mute and die.”

In a statement made available to SUNDAY PUNCH, the Olofun of Irele Kingdom and his cabinet stated, “There is no community, city or town under the sun without a culture or tradition. Irele Kingdom is not an exception. Some youths planned and broke into the Malokun shrine in the town at midnight, entered the most sacred room in it and stole effigies which no one, except the Chief Priest and High Chief Gbogunron of Irele Kingdom could see with two eyes. Any unauthorised person who enters the room and see the traditional items without the required or preferred sacrifice will bear the consequences, which are blindness and eventual death.”

The statement added that the Kabiyesi-in-Council had carried out some sacrifices with the hope that the deaths would be abated.

It also stated that there was no contagious, infectious or strange disease of any sort either in Irele or its environs.

The General Hospital, Ode-Irele was a beehive of activities on Saturday as a team led by the state Commissioner of Health, Dr. Dayo Adeyanju, was busy inspecting the facility to check the level of preparedness for any fresh case.

Adeyanju also said the disease was not contagious or infectious. He also debunked the claims of the chiefs. He said, “We cannot say what the cause is now but we have taken samples to Lagos for tests and we are expecting results. The beliefs of the chiefs cannot be scientifically proven. Our personnel are working round the clock to tackle the situation.”

On his part, the Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Ayomide Sanni, said the government swung into action since the outbreak of the ailment.

Before noon, some of the victims were led to the hospital by their family members. Alighting from a motorcycle, one of the blind victims, who was dressed in Ankara attire, declined talking to our correspondents. His relatives, when questioned on the incident refused any interview and walked into the building.

The same was the response of another victim. Quite elderly, the man, who wore a white T-shirt was blind and was led to the General Hospital, Irele by his relatives.

Meanwhile, a release from the hospital gave the list of casualties as at Friday as follows: Olorunwa Jero (45), Okorie Sunday (45), Tobi Adeleye (37), Babatunde Omosuwa (35), Segun Oyewole (45), Omolane Jimmy (32), Olowoporoku George (75), Ologbonjaiye Adebayo (48), and Olowojesiku Ajorinde (42).

Others were: Ogbodo Kehinde (32), Taiwo Obadiah (22), Michael Aribo (35), Adun Emmanuel (52), Sunday Jero (48), Omogunloye Koko (25), Aro Omosuyi (43), Oshodi Felix (58) and Shina Adewudu (35).

Of the 18 names, only Olorunwa Jero was said to be alive. The hospital noted that all the deceased were males. [Punchng.com]