Stockfish killing Nigerians in the States?
By Chief Charles O. Okereke, Nigeria Masterweb
Is mercury used in processing stockfish responsible for the increasing deaths of Nigerians in the United States?
Nigeria Masterweb(NMW) reliably gathered that over fifty Nigerians have died in Texas this year alone. Many Nigerians are
baffled with the high mortality amongst Nigerians in this part of the States. Nigeria Masterweb received an email yesterday
pointing finger at mercury, an element used in the drying process of stockfish as the culprit. The email is reproduced below.
NMW has not verified the authenticity of this claim nor that of the forwarded email itself. We will keep you posted as we gather more facts.
HERE'S THE EMAIL:-
I do not know the validity of the following FYI: ----------
Subject: STOCK FISH POISONING: OKPOROKO ALERT
PLEASE READ THIS AND FORWARD TO OTHER FRIENDS
Umunna,
A friend called as soon as I made it to work this morning to tell me to not eat stockfish until further notice. According to him, two Nigerians died in Houston recently and autopsies attributed their death to too much mercury in their blood or their entire system.
The mercury was traced to part of the drying process of stockfish. Apparently, the high demand for Okporoko has necessitated the use of chemicals to aid the drying process, as opposed to traditional methods used before this new twist. The source of the
story is good, so I will suggest that we err on the side of caution. So, please stay off Okporoko for a while until this story checks out. If you get too afraid and feel like to throwing away your entire stock, just call me and I will throw it away for you. But jokes aside, stay off okporoko for now.