Death of 80 babies: Accused persons arraigned

Adeyemo Abiodun, Ebele Eromosele and Barewa Pharmaceuticals Company Limited, better known as producers of teething powder mixture, ‘My Pikin,’ were charged to court on Monday.
The duo of Abiodun and Eromosele and the Pharmaceutical Company were charged for the production and distribution of the teething mixture, which is suspected to have been heavily adulterated.
The teething powder, allegedly adulterated, was said to have killed about 80 children in 2009.
All the accused persons pleaded not guilty to the six counts leveled against them.
It was gathered that the re-arraignment came on the heels of the amendment of the charge after one of the accused persons and MD of Barewa Pharmaceutical, Kola Okunola, died in October 2012.
Okunola, who was said to have been 67 before he died, reportedly died from complication from stroke. The demise of Okunola compelled the court to remove his name from the charge, thus amending it to the present position.
The prosecutor, Aminu Alilu, explained to the court that Eromosele was selected by the defence to stand as the company’s representative since Okunola was no more
The trial judge, Justice Okechukwu Okeke, after the arraignment, allowed the accused persons to continue on the former bail conditions given to them after their first arraignment on March 8, 2009.
The defence counsel, Osaro Eghobamien, implored the court to hasten the hearing of the case because of the ill health of one of the accused persons, Eromosele.
Okeke fixed the matter for February 25, 26, 27 and 28 for continuation of trial.