Ifunanya Nwangene died in hospital after being bitten in her Abuja home, raising questions about the availability of effective antivenoms
In a last message to her friends, Ifunanya Nwangene wrote: “Please come.”
The 26-year-old singer and former contestant on The Voice Nigeria had been bitten by a snake while asleep in her flat in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, and was in hospital, anxiously awaiting treatment.
Despite rushing to seek care, Nwangene died a few hours after being bitten, as her friend waited at a pharmacy to buy the antivenom she needed.
As the news of her death on 31 January has spread, it has sparked a fierce row over the ready availability of drugs needed to treat deadly snakebites in Nigeria’s hospitals.
