Fears heighten as laundry owner dies of drug overdose in Bayelsa

A 30-year-old laundry owner, Daniel Celestine, has reportedly died of a suspected drug overdose in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.

The tragic incident occurred days after a 19-year-old male student of the Federal University of Otuoke (FUO), Bayelsa State, identified as Job Alawari-Kei, reportedly collapsed and died after an alleged overdose of an illicit drug.

According to Daily Post, Celestine, an indigene of Akwa Ibom State, residing along Opili Plaza Road by Azikoro area, was said to have attended a birthday party at an undisclosed location with friends and ate food purportedly laced with “Colos” also known as Colorado.

Celestine’s siblings and friends said the deceased attended the mysterious party on Sunday, April 30, 2023, and came back home behaving like a mentally derailed person.

“All attempts to calm him down failed. He told us that he ate food mixed with drugs. Anyone that tried to hold him down was attacked,” a source said.

Daily Post reported that the close source, named Matthew, said that neighbours and friends rushed the laundry owner, to a nearby hospital known as Ripples, and he later became calm after he was injected. Later, we saw him restricted with leg chains, claiming that he had relapsed and become violent.”

It was gathered that the family was later informed that he died in his sleep.

Attempts to get the reaction of his family were, however, futile, as his corpse was reported to have been taken to Uyo, Akwa Ibom, Daily Post reports.

WITHIN NIGERIA recalls that a 200 level student of the same university identified as Bright Akhere, died from drug overdose at a swimming pool located at the Renew Empire Hotel Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government Area of the state.

Frightened by the reoccurring incident, some residents of the state capital are calling on the authorities of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, and the Bayelsa State Police Command, to rise up to their responsibility and investigate the source of the killing drugs known as “Colors”.

A trader, Madam Chiameka Gordon, said that parents and guardians should educate their wards on the new danger of drug abuse. “These NDLEA personnel should stop engaging in illegality and condoning drug peddling instead of tackling it,” Daily Post reports.