In South-West Nigeria, many people are consuming Adimenu, a local herbal mixture made from extracts of selected plants, touted as an all-purpose medicinal remedy without knowing that they are consuming a killer cocktail processed with tobacco extract and fermented cow urine. ANGELA ONWUZOO reports

For years, Mrs Mercy Taiwo, 58, suffered from severe joint pains and hypertension. After seemingly exhausting all measures to get well, she voiced out her frustration to a fellow trader at the Mushin Market in Lagos.

Eager to be of help, the woman excitingly advertised the great ability of a local herbal concoction called Adimenu to cleanse the body system of all ailments and assured the tomato seller that her ill health would be a thing of the past once she used the medication.

Taiwo told PUNCH Healthwise that how she did not end up dead after using the cocktail is a mystery that has left her dumbfounded.

“I told one of my neighbours, Mama Bose, that I have not been sleeping well at night, and that it appears the drugs I was using to manage my high blood pressure were no longer working,” she said, breathing out heavily.

“I am always restless and find it difficult to sleep whenever my blood pressure is high. After complaining to her, she asked if I had ever heard about a herbal mixture called Adimenu. I told her yes because I do see vendors hawking the medicine, which they promise people can cure all manner of ailments with just N300.

N300 killer drug

“So, she told me to buy the medicine and use it. She assured me that after using it, I would never complain about high blood pressure and joint pain again.

“The next day, I saw one of the hawkers and bought a bottle for N300. The hawker told me to take a spoonful of the concoction and leave it in my mouth for five minutes before spitting it out”, she told our correspondent.

Save for Mrs Taiwo’s 22-year-old daughter who was around that fateful night in July 2023, the businesswoman would have died.

Narrow escape

Sharing her bitter experience with PUNCH Healthwise, the Ondo State indigene narrated, “So, two minutes after I put a spoonful of the concoction in my mouth, which I was told to gargle for five minutes before spitting it out, I started sweating profusely and shivering.

“The next minute I felt like defecating and rushed to the toilet. Guess what, I fainted inside the toilet. I didn’t even know that I fainted. When I was revived, I saw myself soaked with water and lying in a puddle on the floor and my daughter was fanning. She told me that I was found unconscious in the toilet and narrated all that happened.

“My daughter told me that I defecated and urinated on myself when I passed out. If not for her timely intervention that fateful night, I would have been a dead woman.

“She was the one who raised the alarm and alerted neighbours when she came to check on me inside the toilet when she was worried that I had stayed too long.

“According to my daughter, all our neighbours gathered and poured water on me, while an arrangement was being made to take me to the hospital. Luckily, I came back to life. That was how God spared my life after taking that dangerous medicine.”

Surprisingly, when Taiwo, who was yet to recover from her near-death encounter, told Mama Bose about her experience, she blamed her for being responsible for her predicament by taking an overdose.

Deadly herbal cocktail

Herbal concoctions are prepared from a mixture of plants’ roots, barks and leaves, which are either soaked in water or alcohol.

It is believed that herbal concoctions are commonly taken by indigent people as an alternative to orthodox medicine and as a remedy for all kinds of ailments.

But the reverse is the case with the popular Adimenu, a local herbal mixture made from extracts of selected plants in southwest Nigeria, which studies revealed was processed with tobacco extract and cow urine.

The toxic mixture sells for between N100 to N500 per bottle, depending on the grade, as it ranges from grade one to five according to the sellers, who are mainly herbal medicine dealers.

Sudden collapse after use

There are online reports that two people recently lost their lives in a space of two weeks after consuming this deadly herbal mixture.

Investigations by PUNCH HealthWise revealed that users of Adimenu herbal mixture become dizzy after using it, while cases of sudden collapse, hospitalization, headaches and stomach disorders have been reported.

Research has also exposed the toxicity of the herbal mixture, which is readily available and largely sold by sellers of traditional medicines popularly known as alagbo.

PUNCH Healthwise investigations showed that the local herbal mixture is predominantly produced in the South-West region of Nigeria, specifically in Oyo and Osun states.

However, it has spread to other geopolitical zones of the country, like the North Central, in Kwara State; and North East, in Gombe State (Bauchi Park).

Different side effects

A commercial bus driver, Mr Akeem Lawal told our correspondent that Adimenu comes in handy as a treatment for his back pain and diabetes, but becomes very weak and sweat profusely each time he uses it.

He, however, said, “I have diabetes but the herbal mixture works for me though it has severe side effects. Sometimes when I take it, I don’t drive because it makes me dizzy. It has different side effects for different people. For instance, if my conductor takes it, he will start purging. For others, it could be vomiting and sweating. So, the reactions vary.”

A killer cure for all ailments

Adimenu is widely believed to cure hypertension, severe body pains, stomach disorders, and stroke, among others.

Our correspondent gathered that the killer drug has been on the market for over 20 years and is touted as a treatment and remedy for all manner of ailments including diabetes, poison and bleeding.

Sadly, many users are not alive to tell of their adventure with Adimenu toxic cocktail, which is readily accessible and affordable.

Pungent smell

Our correspondent, who purchased two brands of the herbal concoction packaged in miniature bottles at the Mushin Market, discovered that the price ranges from N100 to N300, depending on the grade and size wanted.

Despite the price, size and brand, all the contents are dark in colour and have a pungent smell.

Mrs. Eunice Akinwale, a herbal medicine seller, who sold the herbal mixture to our correspondent, on seeing her brow burrow in disapproval after smelling the content told her to ignore recent negative speculations about Adimenu.

Why users die

Bent on passing off the medication as very potent and safe, she said, “Don’t mind what people are saying about the Adimenu herbal mixture. I have been selling it for over 10 years. It cures every sickness. The problem is that people don’t use it as instructed. I know that it is dangerous and can make people collapse when swallowed or taken in excess, but it works when properly used.

“Adimenu herbal mixture is not like the agbo (herbal concoction) that people take anyhow. That is what people don’t know and that is why some people have serious health problems after using it.

“People need to be guided on how to use it after buying it. If not, they will have problems after using it.”

On how Adimenu is processed, the trader who seems to have deep knowledge about the cocktail explained, “It is prepared from a native herb but it takes a lot of processes. I am not the one that prepared it. They prepare it in the village and sell it to us.”

Deadly mixture processed with tobacco and cow urine

A 2020 study published in the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacognosy Research titled, ‘The GC-MS fingerprints of Nicotiana tabacum L. extract and propensity for renal impairment and modulation of serum triglycerides in Wistar rats’, it was revealed that Adimenu is processed with tobacco extract and cow urine.

The researchers said a major ingredient in Adimenu preparation – Nicotiana tabacum, is a herbaceous plant mostly known as tobacco.

“Locally, people extract this plant with cow urine, they call it ‘Adimenu’ and they claim it is effective in managing various ailments, even with taking just a spoonful of the extract.

“Thus, profiling the toxicity and or otherwise of the cow-urine extracted tobacco plant cannot be overemphasized”, the researchers stated.

The study evaluated the toxicity of smokeless exposure in 40 male Wistar rats, noting that it revealed 21 compounds in the tobacco extract.

The researchers explained, “As expected, nicotine was predominant among the identified compounds. The sub-acute exposure of rats to cow-urine extract of N. tabacum extract might have altered rat metabolic homeostasis, triggering adaptive mechanisms, while impairing renal functions.

“Findings in this study suggest that the cow-urine extract of N. tabacum exposure in male Wistar rats might have perturbed rat renal functions as well as modulated serum lipid profile.

“This research, therefore, recommends that local consumers be cautious of the rate at which they consume their regular “Adimenu”.

Another research by Raji Akintunde Abdullateef, and Hajarat Jummai Abdullahi titled, ‘Herbal Mixture (Adimenu) Toxicological Evaluations Using the Allium cepa L Assay, published by EAS Journal of Biotechnology and Genetics, showed that the herbal mixture has impacted negatively on the consumers’ health.

The researchers stated that despite the mixture being administered by holding it in the mouth only for a few minutes, consumers often become dizzy immediately after use.

“Cases of sudden collapse and hospitalisation have been reported. Unconsciousness, headaches, stomach disorders, vomiting, discomforts, among other health challenges, have been recorded”, the researchers said.

Proscribe as a hard drug – Researchers

According to the researchers, the composition of Adimenu in a small container includes “Nicotiana tobaccum Linn (1 per cent), Zingiber officinale Roscoe (7 per cent), Xylopia aethiopica Dunal (6 per cent), Tetrapleura tetraptera Schum. & Thonn (6 per cent) and Water (80 per cent).”

They concluded that the herbal mixture is hazardous for use in whichever form it is administered, hence, it should be classified as a hard drug and thus proscribed.

The World Health Organisation estimates that about 80 per cent of the population in developing countries still depends on traditional medicine for their primary healthcare needs.

WHO noted that many Nigerians, especially in the South-West region, “believe and rely on local herbs for medication”, as against orthodox (or modern) medicine.

Causes kidney and liver damage

Speaking with our correspondent, a professor of Medicine and Endocrinology at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Olufemi Fasanmade, said the use of herbal medicine is not standard diabetes and hypertension treatment.

He warned that using It, especially over a long period, could damage the kidney and liver.

The endocrinologist said most kidney failures, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease, could be linked to indiscriminate use of these concoctions.

The professor said, “Herbal medications are often not standardised or extensively studied. Some are good and some are bad. They can lead to liver or kidney failure when used for a prolonged period.”

On his part, a Consultant Pathologist, Dr Wale Ajala said herbal concoctions can destroy vital organs of the body, especially the kidneys.

The Chief Executive Officer of Help Diagnostics and Checkup Services, Lagos, said patients with diabetes should be mindful of their lifestyle, particularly what they consume.

“It is horrible the way we are seeing the markers of kidney diseases these days. Kidney failure is increasing by the day in Nigeria and renal dialysis is so expensive,” the pathologist added.

Ajala assured that diabetes could be treated and its consequences avoided or delayed with diet, physical activity, medication, regular screening and treatment for complications.

NAFDAC mute

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control was established by Decree 15 of 1993 to regulate and control the manufacture, importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, chemicals, medical devices and packaged water (known as regulated products).

Based on PUNCH Healthwise findings, herbal medicinal products manufactured on a large scale, whether imported or locally manufactured, must be registered, while their advertisement messages and scripts are approved by NAFDAC before marketing.

However, efforts to find out from the agency if it is aware of the killer cocktail, which from all indications is not new to the Nigerian market, and what efforts had been taken to checkmate its production, distribution and use, were unsuccessful.

NAFDAC’s Resident Media Consultant in Lagos, Mr Sayo Akintola, could not be reached as his phone was switched off.

Also, messages sent to him were not responded to as of the time of filing this report. (Sunday PUNCH: Text, Excluding Headline)

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