Nigeria's illegal gin making process. Poisonous gin blamed for mass death

A chisel is cut deep into the palm tree, and a white sap slowly drips out into a container. This is the unique ingredient in making Nigerian gin -- the palm sap.

The container is filled with the palm sap and drowned fruit flies which hovers over the sap.

The distilling process of the local gin is simple and illegal.The sap is first mixed with sugar and left to ferment for seven days in sealed blue barrels. Rusted oil drums are then placed over a hot fire and the fermented alcohol poured in. The alcohol evaporates, passes down small pipes through a vat of cold water where it condenses and then drips out into a bucket as a clear, refined gin -- or "Ogogoro" as it's also called locally.
This production which is not certified nor approved by Government agency is believed to be a reason for mass deaths witnessed from drinking poisoned local gin. In Rivers state, in Nigeria's Niger Delta region, over 38 people are thought to have died after drinking at a local gin joint.

The problem is that often the alcohol is laced with chemicals, like methanol, to increase the longevity and taste.

NAFDAC, Nigeria's Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, has announced a nationwide ban on the consumption of local gin.