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The Ondo State Government, on Wednesday, confirmed the deaths of 24 residents of Odigbo Local Government Area of the state following the consumption of a herbal liquid substance.

No fewer than 24 residents of two communities in the council area, Araromi Obu and Odigbo town, reportedly lost their lives after consuming the substance.

The incident, which was said to have occurred on Saturday, has thrown the affected communities into mourning.

A source in the area who pleaded anonymity told our correspondent that the deceased consumed the substance at different locations on Saturday but later became unconscious, leading to their deaths. At the same time, some others who also consumed it were rushed to hospitals.

The source said, “They (the deceased) drank the herbal substance and started dying. Eight people died in Araromi Obu while 16 others lost their lives in Odigbo town, but we have yet to confirm if it was what they drank that killed them. But we are sure that the people died after drinking the herbal drinks.

“Some of the people died in their sleep while some died when they got home, and many are still in the hospital as I am talking to you.”

Confirming the incident in a telephone interview with our correspondent, the Chairman of Odigbo Local Government Area, Mr Taiwo Adegoroye, said the deceased consumed the substance before the incident, adding that they were waiting for a medical team to carry out an autopsy to determine the actual cause of the deaths.

Adegoroye said, “We can confirm the death of 24 people, eight in Araromi Obu and 16 in Odigbo town, and many are still on admission at hospitals. But we have yet to ascertain the cause of the deaths, and we are still waiting for the team from the state Ministry of Health to carry out the test on the deceased. That is why we can’t specifically say the real cause.”

The chairman also said he had banned the sale and consumption of locally brewed alcoholic drinks in the area as a precautionary measure.

According to him, a preliminary verbal autopsy conducted by the local government health team indicated a possible link between the reported deaths and the consumption of the substances.

In the same vein, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Banji Ajaka, also confirmed the incident in a telephone interview, saying investigations were underway to establish the actual cause of the deaths.

Ajaka did not immediately disclose the specific substance suspected to have caused the deaths but said medical and health officials would conduct further assessments in the affected communities.

“The government is taking the matter seriously, and we will provide more details after the ongoing investigation has established the circumstances surrounding the incident.”

Meanwhile, some youths in the town staged a mini protest to the palace of the Odigbo traditional ruler to demand explanations and urgent measures to prevent further loss of life.

Addressing the youths, the monarch of the town, Oba Rufus Akinrinmade, appealed for calm and assured them that efforts would be made to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the deaths and find a lasting solution to the situation.

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Aesthetic and dermatology physician, Dr. Mobola Savage, has cautioned that non-surgical penis enlargement using injectable fillers carries serious risks, following the death of Nigerian-British businessman and social media personality, Igho Ubiribo.

Reacting to reports of Ubiribo’s death in a post on X shared on Tuesday, Savage said the procedure is still an invasive medical treatment and “non-surgical does not mean risk-free.”

“And perhaps the biggest lesson from this tragedy is that non-surgical does not mean risk-free. Penile filler is still an invasive medical procedure involving highly vascular anatomy,” she wrote.

Ubiribo, 43, died after undergoing a penile filler procedure while on holiday in Bangkok, Thailand.

According to evidence presented at an inquest at the Inner West London Coroner’s Court, 40ml of hyaluronic acid and lidocaine was injected into his penis at an unnamed clinic.

A UK coroner ruled the cosmetic procedure caused a fatal pulmonary embolism. A postmortem examination reportedly found material in Ubiribo’s lungs consistent with the hyaluronic acid used in the procedure.

The businessman, also known as “Tiny”, “Denisi” and “Ego”, had travelled to Thailand with his wife, Danielle Simba Allen. After the procedure, they returned to their hotel. During a massage, Ubiribo complained of chest pain and fainted twice. He was rushed to Sukhumvit Hospital, where he spoke to doctors and told them about the recent injections.

Doctors suspected a pulmonary embolism and recommended a CT scan, but he reportedly lost consciousness before it was done. He was moved to ICU where CPR was performed for over 100 minutes. He died in the early hours of March 6.

Pathologist John du Parcq told the inquest the material found in Ubiribo’s lungs matched the filler substance and was consistent with a pulmonary embolism — a blockage in a lung blood vessel that puts severe strain on the heart.

Ubiribo had a history of joint surgery and was described as pre-diabetic with gout, but his GP reportedly said he had no other major health conditions.

*Doctor’s warning on safety*
Savage explained that the procedure Ubiribo had was not conventional surgery but non-surgical penile augmentation with hyaluronic acid filler, mainly used to increase girth, not length.

“What immediately stood out to me was the reported 40ml administered in one treatment,” she said. “Penile augmentation does require larger volumes than facial aesthetics, but this raises an important conversation about how we approach volume.”

She advised that augmentation should be staged rather than done all at once, and tailored to a patient’s anatomy, tissue capacity and goals.

“There is a tendency for patients seeking penile enhancements to focus on ‘How many mLs am I getting?’, as though more filler automatically means a better result. It doesn’t work that way,” she said.

Savage also noted that many HA fillers contain lidocaine. While she said there was not enough evidence to link lidocaine toxicity to Ubiribo’s death, she said total anaesthetic exposure must be considered in large-volume procedures.

She further warned that medical tourism can create pressure to complete treatment in one visit.

“When someone has travelled internationally for treatment, there can be pressure to achieve the entire desired result in one visit because returning for staged treatment may be difficult. But travel schedules, convenience and even patient demand should never override clinical judgement,” she said.

According to her, the safety of penile filler depends on patient selection, anatomy, product choice, injection technique, appropriate volume, and the ability to manage complications.

“Patient selection, anatomy, product choice, injection plane and technique, appropriate volume, total local-anaesthetic exposure and the ability to recognise and manage complications all matter. More is not always better. And faster is not always safer,” she said.

Penile fillers with hyaluronic acid are marketed as a less invasive way to increase girth, but Savage stressed they still carry potentially serious complications.

Her warning comes as Ubiribo’s death draws fresh attention to the risks of cosmetic procedures done abroad.

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A 50-year-old woman arrested by the Oyo State Police Command on Monday as part of crackdown on a child-stealing and trafficking network has told investigators that she sold her newborn male twins for N300,000 and stole other children for suspected baby factory operators in Oyo State.

The suspect, Adejoke Popoola, also known as Orente Alagbo, said in a video posted by Oyo Affairs that she had stolen at least 13 children and received between N80,000 and N120,000 for each child she allegedly supplied.

According to her, she became involved in the alleged operation after meeting a woman she identified as Oluwakemi, who she said operated a “baby industry” and supplied children to buyers in Lagos.

“God gifted me pregnancies. If a man has sex with me two times, I won’t be able to abort it. I sold children to Oluwakemi two times. I sold a one-year-old son and I sold newly born male twins to her last year,” she said.

Ms Popoola said she sold the twins after the man responsible for the pregnancy refused to accept them.

“The twins are male. I sold them newly born. She (Oluwakemi) gave me N300,000. She also used to sell babies that I supply her to people, she has a baby industry, she sells them to Lagos. If I give them any child, they will give me N80,000 or N120,000,” Mrs Popoola alleged.

The suspect also described how she stole children abducted during public gatherings, including an Egungun festival in Oyo.

She said, in June, she travelled to Oyo after telling a commercial motorcyclist that she wanted to go to the location of an Egungun festival, although she claimed she did not know the area.

According to her, after the Egungun procession began, she approached the mother of a three-year-old child named, Ifakunle Ifagbenro, and offered to carry the child for her.

“The child said he’s not going to stay, but I told her mum that I should hold her for her. So I followed them around. Around evening, I ran away with the child,” she stated. She claimed she received N900,000 for selling Ifagbenro.

Ms Popoola also claimed that she sometimes targeted families by offering to help children with disabilities.

“I used to exchange children too. If they bring a disabled child, I’ll tell them that I’ll help them to heal, and I’ll go and pick another person’s child and give it to them.”

Ms Popoola said she had previously sold herbs and became connected to the suspected baby-trafficking operation after her shop was gutted by fire in January 2024.

She said she regularly sold herbs in areas around Ogere and supplied a woman she identified as operating a clinic to pregnant women.

“Later they told me that instead of me suffering around, I should be stealing babies for them,” she said.

According to her, she was paid N80,000 for the first child she allegedly stole for the operators, while subsequent payments ranged between N80,000 and N120,000.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that Oyo State Police Command said their investigation, which began with a petition, uncovered a wider network allegedly involved in the stealing, movement, sale and concealment of children.

The command said it had so far rescued 17 children and arrested seven suspects including Mrs Popoola, while six other children were reported to have died while allegedly in the custody of their abductors.

The police also alleged that the investigation uncovered a link between the suspected child-trafficking operation and ritual activities, saying remains of children who died in custody were allegedly sold to suspected ritualists.

In the video, the husband of another arrested woman also recounted how his wife became linked to the investigation after she went to a facility where she was expecting to deliver a child.

He said his wife had been told that her sister operated a hospital where women could deliver their babies, and that he believed she was going there as part of what he described as a favour.

According to him, his wife went into labour and eventually delivered a baby at about 7pm on August 6.

He said he was later informed that the baby had died.

However, he said police subsequently contacted them after allegedly tracking a newborn baby to the house of a woman identified as Osana.

He said investigators told him that conversations on Osana’s phone had been traced and that they identified him as the father of the newborn.

“The police said they claimed that it was a prostitute that gave birth to the baby and ran away. They said they traced the conversation on Osana’s phone and they found that I’m the father of the child,” the husband said.