Sudden Deaths: Why many Nigerians just slump, die – Experts

• High aspirin intake, sitting for too long could be fatal – Prof Bayo Onajole
• How religion fuels recurring sudden deaths – Dr Odubanjo
• Spiritual attacks can’t be dismissed – Cleric

Sudden deaths among seemingly healthy Nigerians have raised concerns about underlying medical conditions, lifestyle choices and spiritual beliefs. Health experts warn that undetected hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, prolonged sitting, physical inactivity and stress can trigger fatal emergencies. LADESOPE LADELOKUN reports

For some Christian faithful, the crossover night service provides an ample opportunity to express gratitude to God for witnessing the end of the year and the grace of being ushered into a fresh year.

This was exactly the story of Prophet Juwon Johnson of the Celestial Church of Christ, International Headquarters. The tall, lanky cleric had danced and rejoiced for the grace of being alive to the end another year in 2024. It didn’t end there.

He read the second lesson at the crossover night service after which he congratulated family members and parishioners for making it to the beginning of a fresh year on January 1, 2025. Then, the joy that lit faces suddenly vanished.

Grief had poisoned the vivacious atmosphere of a brand new year. The young and the old stood in twos and threes to discuss the suddenness and shock of an ugly development on the first day of the year.

Doubts still lived in some hearts but nothing could bring back the lost life. Prophet Juwon Johnson had died! In a chat with Sunday Telegraph, a parishioner, who simply wants to be identified as Ola, described his death as a rude shock as he was full of energy and was bubbling with life until death suddenly struck.

He said:“I saw him having conversations with people in several groups after the service. He spoke with the Chairman of the church and some people I saw with him. I was also among the people he was having a gist with at another point.

He was seen everywhere outside the service. So, when he entered Mercy Land to pray, he left the place and fell down at the entrance. He eventually died around 5:00 am on January 1.”

Tears for Vivian

The tears were not hidden. Some stood akimbo, nodding their heads from left to right. Others placed their hands on their heads. A waiting white bus had leaves clipped to its windscreen.

The crowd of mourners in front of the residence of a lady identified as Vivian could not hide their pain as grief enveloped the atmosphere at her Ashimolowo, Mowe, Ogun State residence.

Vivian, who was said to be in her early 30s died on Sunday, October 18, just a year after she lost her brother. Sharing the circumstances surrounding her death with Sunday Telegraph, her neighbour, Biola Adeniyi, said: “She was going to Mowe Bus Stop.

As she stepped outside the compound, she came back again, saying she left something behind. She just entered her room, collapsed and died. She wasn’t sick. Nothing like sickness at all.”

How Ifeanyi Uba’s sister slumped, died while preparing for church

A Sunday after Vivian’s death, specifically on October 25, Mrs Fidelia Ezinwanne Chigbogu, elder sister of the late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, had woken up early in her usual manner on Sunday mornings to go to church early because of her responsibilities in church.

She, however, slumped and died suddenly at her Lagos residence, leaving her family in grief and shock. Recounting the tragic incident, as reported by Anambra People Magazine, her husband, Mr. Jude Chigbogu, described her death as shocking, saying she showed no single sign of illness.

Chigbogu said: “That Sunday morning, she woke up without any sign of illness. She had no headache, no fever, nothing. She finished taking her bath and was preparing to go to church.

“She usually leaves home early, around 7:00 or 7:30 a.m. because of her responsibilities in church,” he said. According to him, he went outside to prepare their car for the journey to church.

By about 8:00 a.m., he became concerned that his wife had not come downstairs and asked their son to check on her. He added: “My son started screaming that he had called his mother but she did not answer.

He lifted her hands and they dropped. He ran upstairs and told me what had happened. We performed CPR, called her name many times, did everything we could but still there was no response.”

Losing to death second time

When he shared the testimony of how he cheated death after a tanker fire accident in March last year, little did he know that he would be mourned this year.

That’s the story of veteran journalist and Publisher of The Eagle Online, Dotun Oladipo, who died on August 25 at the age of 56. Before his sudden death, several reports from colleagues and associates said he had appeared well earlier in the day and had continued with his normal activities.

In fact, an Editor of a national newspaper (name withheld) said : “He sent me a broadcast around 2:45pm . By 4:30pm, he was dead.” Oladipo, according to reports, had gone to the gym with his wife earlier in the day he passed on .

And the beat stops for Toluwanisings

Before ToluwaniSings, whose real name was Olayemi Bayonile Bolaji, died on Wednesday, October 14, the gospel singer reportedly performed at a gospel event the day before.

According to his Personal Assistant, Babadunni Gbolabo, he was in perfect condition until he slumped and died. He added that there were efforts to revive him before he was taken to different hospitals. “There was nothing wrong with him.

He was very fine and in perfect condition. He just slumped. They tried to resuscitate him. They went helter-skelter. They took him to some hospitals but they were giving excuses. “Some said doctors were not working because of the strike.

Some did not admit him at all. That is how it went. We tried our best, including prayers. We took him to up to seven to eight hospitals in Ibadan, but God said his time was up.”

Understanding the problem

For some, who have lost loved ones to sudden death syndrome, it is a familiar narrative that someone who is looking healthy and full of energy this minute can be in the morgue the next hour.

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