Mother and Four Children Found Unconscious, One Dead

A heartbreaking incident has struck the Akaajime community in Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State, where five members of the same family were discovered unconscious inside their home on September 23, 2025.

According to reports, the victims — a mother and her four children — were rushed to a private hospital in Akaajime. Sadly, a 4-year-old boy among them passed away on the way.

One family member, Mohivinze Terkura, told journalists that she narrowly escaped the tragedy after spending the night at her aunty’s house due to heavy rain.

She explained that when she returned to their residence around 10 a.m., she noticed something unusual — the house was still locked, and her aunty and her children had not come out as they normally would.
Narrating the moment, she said:“I did not come back home to sleep due to heavy rain yesterday, and I decided to sleep in my aunt’s house, but when I returned home this morning, I met the door still shut, and several attempts to open the door failed,” she narrated.

“So, I decided to force the door open, only to find my mother and other siblings unconscious.

“Upon seeing them in that condition, I immediately raised an alarm, which drew the attention of our neighbours who came and assisted me to convey them to the nearest hospital. However, before we could get to the hospital, my younger brother who was four years old, had died

“I can’t actually ascertain what led to the incident. However, when we forced the door open, I noticed an unusual smell of chemical-like cooking gas in the room. But we don’t have a gas cooker in the entire house, nor do we use insecticide in our house aside from mosquito nets that we use constantly.”

“I called our mother, but she could not answer me. Only for me to discover that all of us in the room were unconscious, and were helpless till my sister returned this morning at about 10 am. Regrettably, my brother d!ed in the process,”

Confirming the incident, Dr. Joshua Atime of Vawar Hospital in Akaajime, Gboko, said that members of the same family were brought to his hospital on Wednesday morning. After stabilizing them, they were later transferred to the General Hospital in Gboko.

See photos below……….