Sallah tragedy: Man dies during sepe drinking competition in Lagos

Tragedy struck in the Orile Iganmu area of Lagos state yesterday after a man, celebrating the Eid el-kabir, collapsed and died during a Shekpe (local gin) drinking competition.

Vanguard reports that the man, identified as Onyibo, and some of his friends were competing on who would finish the largest quantity of  local gin, popularly called shekpe. Onyibo reportedly consumed 13 small-sized plastic containers of the local gin, while the other eight competitors were on three, four, six and 10 plastics, respectively.

It was when he was reportedly gulping down his 14th bottle that he started coughing.
An eyewitness stated that he was immediately given water but he continued to cough and suddenly began to vomit blood before he slumped on the ground, dead. Onyibo and his friends were said to have placed a bet of N5,000 on whoever could finish 20 plastic cans of the local gin.
Policemen from Orile Division were alerted about the incident and they arrived the scene to remove the body.
It was gathered that Onyibo’s friends had abandoned him at a workshop and fled for fear of possible arrest by police after they were unable to revive him.
What a sad, and totally needless way to go!