The yuletide season turned tragic for a 60-year-old herbalist, named Ani Ikojeto, in Calabar, as he had his private parts bitten off and eaten by his dog.
The man, who lives at 12, Jebbs Street in Calabar South, according to neighbours, went on a drinking spree on Christmas Eve and returned home drunk.
“When he came back, we had gone to bed but some people were still outside. He went inside his room and slept off without shutting the door and because of too much drink, he excreted on himself.
“His dog that was outside smelt the poo and went inside to eat it; in the process, the dog ate his private parts thinking it was meat or part of the excreta,” Itoro, his neighbor, said.
According to him, the man raised the alarm, prompting neighbours to rush into his apartment and discovered what had happened.
“When we heard him scream, we thought hoodlums had attacked him. But when we got there, we saw that his private part was gone and his dog had blood on its mouth,” the neigbour said.
Itoro said the man could not be rushed to the hospital because of the excreta that covered his body; so had to be cleaned up first.
“By the time we finished cleaning him of the shit, he was bleeding so much and on the way to the hospital he died,” she added.
The man was living alone as his daughters were married and lived away from him.
He was taken to his village, Ikoneto on Boxing Day for burial.