By Zainab Isiaq
There was palpable grief among residents of Oko-Erin in Ilorin the Kwara State capital last Sunday following the reported death of a 14-year-old girl who was said to have been bitten by a snake.
The sad incident was said to have occurred around 4pm when the teenager, simply identified as Charity was asked to remove clothes on the hanger from the bushy backyard by her sister, Mrs Margaret Ifeanyi but ended up being bitten by snake while carrying out the task.
According to a source, who resides in the area, the sister was alerted by Charity’s cry. She rushed out only to find the young girl wriggling in pain and pointing to a spot near her ankle.
She was said to have been rushed to a nearby pharmacy but the attendant who said he could not handle such situation advised that the young girl be taken to the nearest hospital to forestall mishap.
Mrs. Ifeanyi and sympathisers hurriedly stopped a taxi to convey the girl to a nearby facility but Christy was said to have breathe her last before she could get to the hospital.
Mrs Ifeanyi, a food vendor in Ilorin, brought her little sister from Calabar sometimes in 2011, to help her out in house chores and at the shop.
“Despite her relative young age, Charity was such a hard working girl and was loved by most of the neighbours. Her sudden death came as a rude shock to most of us because we have never had situation of snake bite in the area before now,” the source stated.
Lamenting the passing on of her little sister, Mrs. Ifeanyi, blamed it on spiritual attack from her home town. According to her, “the death of Charity my little sister remains a surprise to me which I am yet to come to terms with. For me, I don’t believe it is ordinary or pre-destined, rather I see it as spiritual attack from home,” she grieved.
