At Least 48 Dead in Nigeria After Suspected Methanol Alcohol Poisoning

At least 48 people have died in southern Nigeria after consuming a locally brewed alcoholic drink suspected of containing methanol, according to health officials in Ondo State.

About 100 other people were receiving treatment, while officials said 182 cases had been recorded in the state’s Odigbo and Irele local government areas. Some patients had been discharged, Ondo State Health Commissioner Banji Ajaka told The Associated Press.

The figure is expected to remain provisional while hospitals and authorities reconcile their records. The available reports also do not include a laboratory result publicly confirming that methanol caused every illness or death. For now, officials are describing the drink as suspected to be contaminated.

The reported symptoms have raised alarm because methanol poisoning can become life-threatening quickly. Ajaka said some victims experienced sudden loss of vision and severe damage to the kidneys and brain after drinking the concoction. One patient told local television station TVC News that he lost his sight after drinking two shots.

The drink involved has not been conclusively identified. Residents told the AP they suspected a potent herbal alcoholic beverage commonly known as “Monkey Tail,” but that account remains an allegation rather than an official finding. A trader interviewed by the news agency said there were different versions of the drink, including one that was allegedly unsafe.

Police said 15 people had been arrested in connection with the incident. Ondo police spokesman Abayomi Jimoh said one of those detained was allegedly involved in producing substances suspected to contain methanol and was assisting investigators. The reports did not say whether formal charges had been filed.

The outbreak illustrates why the suspected toxin is so dangerous. Unlike ordinary alcohol, methanol is not meant for human consumption; when it is present in an alcoholic mixture, serious symptoms may be delayed, making it harder for drinkers and families to recognize the danger before irreversible injury occurs. The symptoms described by state officials—vision loss and organ damage—are among the reasons suspected exposure requires urgent medical attention.

The case also highlights the challenge facing regulators in areas where inexpensive, locally made alcohol is widely consumed. Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has been enforcing a nationwide ban on alcohol sold in sachets and small plastic containers, which the agency has said are easily accessible to children and young people. That policy, however, does not by itself resolve risks from informal production outside the regulated supply chain.

The immediate questions are whether laboratory testing will confirm methanol contamination, how widely the suspected drink was distributed, and whether additional cases will emerge. Until those answers are available, the death toll and the description of the beverage should be treated as developing information rather than a final account of the disaster.