Death in bottles: Toxic herbal cocktails snuffing life out of Nigerians

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).