A nine-year-old Nigerian girl has died after her mother applied a pesticide on her hair to kill lice.
The pesticides, Sniper, is very deadly and has been frequently reported as the the product swallowed by Nigerians attempting suicides.
The girl’s death was disclosed by a paediatrician at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, Dr Gloria Nwosu, in Port Harcourt, the state capital, during a chat with journalists.
She explained that the deceased child’s mom applied the harmful chemical on the head of her daughters – aged four and nine, on the advise of her hairdresser.
However, while the nine-year-old convulsed for hours before giving up the ghost, doctors at the teaching hospital saved the four-year-old.
She said the pesticide damaged the victim’s brain.
She said, “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 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 children out there have gone through this and gone unreported?
“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 in this child.”