No fewer than seven wedding guests have allegedly died in Kano while others have been hospitalized after drinking a local tea brewed from Zakami herb suspected to contain some harmful properties.
An elder brother of the bride, Sanusi Yahaya, while confirming the incident, noted that it is suspected the tea was laced with drugs as it has become a norm for the young people in the area, especially drug addicts, to use ceremonies as an avenue to cook and take drugs.
Yahaya said: “They cooked the tea and they themselves didn’t even know the number and types of drugs that were inside to the extent that some had to abandon it. But some of them insisted that they must drink from the tea, saying that their brains can take it.
“After drinking the tea, two people died, some have recovered while others are hospitalised.”
Another eyewitness, Abdullahi Muhammad, claimed that seven persons died after taking the tea. He also said those hospitalised are not from the area, but were just passing by and decided to drink from the tea.
Muhammad said: “We don’t know the exact number for now, but in the morning seven were confirmed dead.
Some of them were not even invited to the wedding; they just came to disguise and take their drugs.”