Mother tries to eliminate ‘stubborn’ lice on 2 daughters’ hair with sniper, aftermath leaves one dead

Tragedy hit a family in Port Harcourt, Rivers State after a mother who was desperate to kill the lice that have refused to depart from her children’s hair, sort for alternative treatment after taking an advice which turned out to be fatal.

WITHIN NIGERIA learnt that the bereaved mother followed the advice of her hairdresser and put a pesticide named Sniper on two of her daughters’s head, aged nine and four, respectively and the result has put the family in a state of mourning.

Sniper has been a controversial pesticide in Nigeria over time because of the wrong usage adopted by many in the country. Lawmakers have called for the ban recently as it becomes number one choice for committing suicide, emptied bottles of the pesticides were found beside numerous lifeless bodies of suicide victims in Nigeria.

Unfortunately, a nine-year-old girl died recently after her mother applied Sniper on her hair. She convulsed for hours before giving up the ghost. The younger sister, four-year-old, was rushed to the hospital for treatment. Luckily, doctors at Rivers State University Teaching Hospital were able to save her.

A paediatrician, Dr Gloria Nwosu at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, while calling for stronger regulation of harmful chemicals,  narrated the tragic incident.

“Their mother felt that the hairdresser would know what to do since it has to do with lice. We did everything we could to bring the child back to normal, but it was all abortive.

“She (the deceased) was very sick. The second child slumped in our presence and we immediately admitted her and gave her an antidote. So, the question now is how many of these children may have gone through this?” Nwosu said.

“It affected her brain because she convulsed for over two hours. Now, there is something we do to check for oxygen saturation; it remained low. It never went back to normal. Then they can have something coming out from their mouth. This child kept pouring out saliva. It never went off until she passed on.

“They also have high blood pressure. This child’s blood pressure was high. We saw all those symptoms on this child,” Nwosu narrated.