By Isaac Olufemi Ojo
On a calm evening in Owerri, 51-year-old merchant Ejike settled into his usual routine after closing for the day. Tired from work, he scrolled through social media in search of light entertainment. What appeared on his feed instead would, according to family and friends, become the beginning of a tragedy.
For years, Ejike and his wife had struggled with infertility. The longing for a child weighed heavily on their marriage, and like many Nigerians confronting personal health challenges, he turned increasingly to the internet for hope.
Then came an advertisement promising a miracle.
The product, marketed online as “Zamba shakes warning” claimed to improve fertility and sexual performance.
Drawn in by bold promises and persuasive marketing, Ejike ordered the herbal mixture, hoping it would finally deliver the “fruit of the womb” he and his wife had long hoped and prayed for.
According to a viral cautionary account later shared on Facebook by his friend, Chinedu Ugwuanus, Ejike consumed the product believing it would transform his life. Instead, his family alleges, it marked the beginning of his final hours.
Relatives said Ejike began vomiting blood barely an hour after taking the herbal mixture. So, he was promptly rushed to a local hospital, where he died the following day.
Within a short while, a video documenting the incident later circulated online. In the recording, a narrator speaking in Igbo claimed the family attempted to contact the phone number printed on the product packaging to report the reaction.
The line at first was initially responsive but once the incident was narrated. The brand’s customer service agents who had answered hung up , subsequent attempt to call back proved abortive as he caller’s line barred from reaching the number, a move family members alleged was intentional . “That was shocking”, an unnamed family member told this reporter.
While the precise medical cause of Ejike’s death has not been independently confirmed through laboratory analysis, his story has become emblematic of a rapidly growing public health crisis unfolding across Nigeria’s digital space.
Be it on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and any other encrypted messaging platforms, unregulated herbal products are being aggressively marketed to millions of Nigerians with promises to cure infertility, diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease, impotence, and even cancer.
Ejike’s story is not isolated.
Another tear-jerking story was that of the late Pa K. Akintoye, who resided in the Ipaja area of Lagos. He died in 2025. His daughter, Bimpe Iyoha (married), told the reporter that after years of treatment, doctors had eventually assured the family that he had become a diabetes survivor.
However, what followed came as a devastating shock.
Bimpe explained that barely two weeks after her father’s condition had been medically certified to be under control, he began experiencing severe cramps and would sometimes roll on the floor like a little child. When she was informed, she said she became confused and could not understand what had gone wrong, prompting her to call their family doctor and requesting an urgent meeting at her father’s home.
During the meeting, they sought answers from the elderly man himself. He revealed that he had been sitting at home one day browsing Facebook when he came across an advertisement for a medical herb claiming to provide a final cure for “everything about diabetes,” even after he had been declared diabetes-free by medical practitioners.
According to him, the advert was highly persuasive, describing symptoms he had previously experienced during his illness, which made it appear credible. He said he called the number provided, spoke with a man who identified himself as “Isaac,” and was further convinced by him. He then made payment and also paid for delivery to his home.
Without informing any member of his family, he began taking the herbal mixture. Within a few days, he realised something had gone terribly wrong. His body began to deteriorate rapidly as he vomited blood, suffered uncontrollable bowel movements, and became too weak to stand. He understood that his condition was worsening and that his life was slipping away.
By the time his family and the doctor arranged for an ambulance to take him to a state government hospital, emergency doctors found that his blood sugar level had spiked dangerously, and they reportedly told them that his condition was critical and that he might not survive beyond 72 hours.
The family attempted to trace the source of the herbal product, but none of the contact numbers were reachable. Instead, they received an automated message stating that the number was no longer assigned to any user.
In his final moments, Pa Akintoye reportedly apologised to his family for trusting strangers over those closest to him, acknowledging the great mistake that had led to his decline, before he passed away.
Evidently, behind the glossy visuals and emotional testimonials lies a loosely monitored industry fueled by desperation, weak enforcement, and algorithms that reward sensational health claims.
For many consumers, the consequences have been found devastating.
A Near-Fatal Gamble
In Ibadan, Pharmacist Emmanuel, founder and lead pharmacist at Emma Mercy Pharmacy in Ologuneru, recalled another case involving a woman who nearly lost her life after abandoning prescribed medication for an online herbal “cure.”
The woman, identified as Mrs. Iba, a pseudonym used to protect her identity, had been managing diabetes under medical supervision and regularly visited the pharmacy for medications and blood sugar monitoring.
Then she suddenly disappeared.
“At first, I thought she had travelled,” Pharmacist Emmanuel said. “But after some weeks, she came back and explained that she had bought a packaged herbal product online which claimed it could completely cure diabetes.”
The results alarmed him.
“When I checked her blood sugar, it was over 400 mg/dL. This was shocking, especially considering that the normal range is less than 140 mg/dL after a meal and 70–99 mg/dL while fasting. We had already managed and stabilized her condition, but now we have to start all over again.”
He described the growing dependence on online herbal medicines as a dangerous trend worsened by misinformation and economic hardship.
“These diseases are not cured; they are managed with certified medication,” he said. “She was lucky she returned when she did. Her case could have ended much worse.”
Across Nigeria, similar stories are becoming increasingly common.
Consumers battling chronic illnesses are being targeted daily by highly emotional and compelling audio visual advertising campaigns promising instant cures, total healing, enhanced fertility, or sexual revitalization.
Many of the products appear online with no traceable manufacturer, no verified customer care structure, and questionable or outright fake regulatory registration claims.
Sadly, the industry continues to expand at extraordinary speed.
Nigeria’s Booming Herbal Economy
Nigeria’s herbal market is projected to become one of the largest in Africa within the next decade, with estimates placing the sector’s value between $25 billion and $30 billion by 2032.
Why? The commercial opportunities are enormous.
But while the market grows rapidly, regulation has struggled to keep pace with the realities of digital advertising.
Increasingly, social media platforms are functioning like unlicensed pharmacies where anyone with a smartphone, advertising budget, and emotional sales pitch can market products directly to vulnerable consumers.
The true scale of the health consequences remains difficult to quantify.
Medical professionals, however, warn that cases involving sudden organ complications, kidney damage, delayed treatment, and avoidable deaths linked to unverified herbal consumption are becoming harder to ignore.
Laws Exist, Enforcement Does Not
On paper, Nigeria already has laws designed to regulate herbal medicine advertising.
One of such is the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) which derives its authority from the NAFDAC Act Cap N1 LFN 2004 and the Herbal Medicines and Related Products Advertisement Regulations 2021.
Under the law, no herbal product may be advertised without registration and prior approval of the advertisement’s text, claims, and visual materials.
These regulations explicitly prohibit marketers from advertising herbal remedies as cures for chronic illnesses such as the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV), cancer, hypertension, or sexual impotence.
The laws also ban absolute claims such as “100 percent safe” and require all clinical assertions to be supported by evidence submitted during product registration.
Similarly, the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), operating under the ARCON Act No. 23 of 2022 and the Nigerian Code of Advertising Practice, mandates that all advertisements, including digital and social media advertisements, must receive approval from the Advertising Standards Panel before publication.
Furthermore, the code requires advertisements to be “legal, decent, honest, and truthful,” while prohibiting misleading testimonials and exaggerated “before-and-after” claims.
Yet despite these regulations, Nigeria’s digital space remains flooded with unverified herbal advertising.
