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HRM Idakwo Michael Ameh Oboni II (Attah Igala)
HRM Idakwo Michael Ameh Oboni II (Attah Igala)
HRM Idakwo Michael Ameh Oboni II
(Attah Igala)
Photo credit: PREMIUM TIMES
HRM Idakwo Michael Ameh Oboni II (Attah Igala)
HRM Idakwo Michael Ameh Oboni II (Attah Igala)
|
Faced with
threat from a dreaded disease that has neither cure nor vaccine, panicking
Nigerians are turning to salt water bath recommended by a Nigerian king.
Nigerians are scrambling for salt-water bath for protection from the deadly
Ebola virus after a call from the ruler of the Igala Kingdom, the Attah of
Igala, prescribing salt solution as a magical vaccine against the virus went
viral.
But the Nigerian government has
issued a statement warning that bathing with salted water is not a cure for the
deadly Ebola Virus.
Local radio and TV stations in Kogi
state quoted the monarch, the Attah of Igala, Idakwo Michael Ameh Oboni, late
Thursday, as making the prescriptions from his palace in Idah, the traditional
capital of Igalaland.
Mr. Oboni offered the purported
prescription after the Nigerian government declared that the pandemic had
become a national emergency.
The prescription, originally
intended for people of the Igala Kingdom, quickly went viral on social media
and text messaging platforms.
Relatives also exchanged telephone
calls advising one another to bath with salt-water solution.
The salt solution bath remedy was
reinforced after claims that a Catholic priest, Ejike Mbaka, also asked his
followers to perform some religious rituals which included drinking salt water.
Salt and water are the major ingredients
of the Holy Water used for a wide range of physical and spiritual purpose by
Catholics.
The Igala
vaccine
The Igala king’s “magical
prescription” was received with great enthusiasm by residents panicked by the
spread of the virus around the West African subregion.
According to local report, the
monarch prescribed that a pinch of salt be added to about 15 litres of water
and used for a soapless bath.
One bath with the salt solution is
all that is required, residents who admitted performing the ‘immunization’
ritual, told PREMIUM TIMES.
“We have nothing to lose with a salt
water bath,” Attanasius Ameh, a resident of Idah in Kogi state said, justifying
the ritual.
He argued that faced with a
no-vaccine-no-cure situation, a simple salt solution bath as a potential
vaccine was a chance shot at survival many were willing to take.
“I have done it,” Juliet Gimba, a
resident of Lokoja said. “I put a pinch of salt in a bucket full of water and
had my bath without soap. I bathed all my children with it too. There is no
cure for Ebola. This is the best I can do to protect my family.”
There is no medical proof that salt
water solution could prevent the transmission of Ebola.
The king did not also explain how he
came about the prescription.
Nonetheless, many Nigerians who
spoke to PREMIUM TIMES admitted they’ve had the saline bath.
An Abuja resident, Patience Enang,
36, told PREMIUM TIMES that her husband, a soldier, had called her by 5am,
Friday morning, from Kaduna, asking her to bath their three children with the
solution. She did.
The Maiduguri
salt rush
Residents of Maiduguri, capital city
of Borno state, defiled the tense security situation in the state to join in
the ritual bath frenzy after text messages were circulated late Thursday night.
Many cut short their sleeps to carry
out the ritual.
In Maiduguri, the vaccination had a
twist. It was to be performed within a given period.
“Ebola has finally entered
Maiduguri! To prevent ebola sickness use hot water to bathe before 4am. Ebola
is real!” the text message, which sent residents scampering for the bath late
in the night, read.
Some residents, who did not have
salt in their homes, had to go knocking on the doors of their neighbours around
3.00 am, just to beat the ‘deadline’.
A different version of the Maiduguri
ritual bath included instructions to recite some verses of the Quran, drink
part of the salted water before bathing with the rest.
All these were to be done before
4a.m.
Mystical
lineage
The Attah of Igala, Idakwo Michael Ameh
Oboni, is believed to have mystical powers, inherited from his father, Attah
Ameh Oboni, who is regarded – in the kingdom – to be as powerful as some
unknown gods.
The elder Attah Oboni is revered for
his stiff resistance of Britain during the colonial era, and the Sultanate,
which tried to annex Igalaland as part of the largely Muslim Sokoto caliphate.
The late king’s subjects also have
fond memories of his struggles in protecting the ancient traditions of the
Igalas, as well as asserting himself, in the face of pressures to substitute
his influence in Igala Kingdom with colonial rule.
He reportedly fought with magical
powers.
He is believed to have committed
suicide in 1957 after he got intelligence the British colonial government
planned to depose and exile him.
The Igalas are the dominant tribe in
Kogi state, North-central Nigeria, with a population of about two million.
Kogi state sits on the Nigerian map
as the main land link between south-east and south-south part of Nigeria to the
capital, Abuja, and the rest of northern Nigeria.
Ebola Virus,
virulent killer
Ebola is currently ravaging the West
African region, with Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea worst hit in the outbreak
that started back in February.
Nigeria was dragged into the mess late
July after Patrick Sawyer, an American-Liberian touched down in the Lagos
international airport with a fully manifested Ebola Virus disease.
Ebola is highly contagious. It is
transmitted via contact with body fluids such as blood, saliva, semen or body discharges
of infected persons.
Nigeria’s health ministry says a
Nigerian nurse in the Lagos hospital where Mr. Sawyer was treated also died of
the disease.
Six others, who had primary contact
with Mr. Sawyer, have been confirmed positive with the virus.
Ebola is a highly fatal virus,
killing up to nine of every 10 victims. There is no known cure or vaccine for
the disease and it is unknown why those who survive it make it alive.
But two Americans are currently
recovering from the disease after they were administered with a test serum.
Medical experts, who spoke to
PREMIUM TIMES say a salt water bath is not harmful to human body when used
moderately.
But they warned that Ebola is better
warded off by following simple self hygiene rules like washing hands, avoiding
infected victims or bodies and avoiding bush meats.
But the Nigerian government has
issued a statement warning that bathing with salted baths is not a cure for the
deadly Ebola Virus.
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