“I have a friend that Indomie (noodles) was removed from his heart” was the attention-catching statement of Bose Adegeye, the owner of Amazon Nature Clinic, at the opening ceremony of the clinic. This comment was prominent in a viral five-minute video shared with DUBAWA sometime in July 2024.
The video shows adult men and women listening to Adegeye, who gives several health-related diagnoses and prescriptions. She owns a wellness clinic, which she proudly promotes as focused on improving overall health and well-being. In the video that caught our attention from the event, she shares valuable dietary advice tailored to adults.
Drawing from personal experiences, she recounts the story of a friend who faced serious health challenges, citing an unusual case where noodles were found in their heart. She also spoke about the numerous health challenges her husband encountered after eating bread every night.
When noodles or any food are consumed, they undergo a complex digestive process that does not involve the heart directly. Given this basic physiological fact, Adegeye’s statements raised scepticism and cast doubt on her credibility as a medical practitioner.
DUBAWA decided to probe Amazon Nature Clinic, a wellness clinic allegedly capable of solving many health issues through natural means.
Amazon Clinic Online Vs Real Life
Adegeye has many parts. According to information on her personal Facebook page, she is an artist, speaker, writer, consultant, and entrepreneur. She is also the managing director of Amazon Bee Communication. She has a considerable influence on Facebook, with over 11,000 followers.
In addition, she owns Amazon Clinic, a wellness platform offering consultations, diagnoses, and treatment for various health conditions. Its services cover chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension, gynaecological issues, male sexual health, and wellness care for the lungs, eyes, skin, thyroid, and more. It also provides guidance on vitamins, supplements, and home remedies.
In August 2024, DUBAWA visited the address listed on the flyer in Adegeye’s Facebook post, No. 12 Awayewasere Street, Ikeja, to assess the clinic and wellness center’s capabilities in addressing various health issues.
Upon arrival, we observed that the area was alive with the usual sounds and sights of Lagos vendors calling out to passersby, stalls crowded with goods, and the steady flow of people doing their business. It was an ordinary, bustling neighbourhood, and yet something felt amiss.
As we approached the residential building, we observed no sign of a clinic: no signboards, no waiting room, and nothing to suggest it was anything other than a residence. Noticing our arrival, the gateman walked over. When asked about Adegeye, he had no idea who she was. He said he had never heard her name before and was unaware of any clinic operating in the building.
We then called the number on the flyer and were directed to another location in Ogun State (25 Abule Egun Road, Mowe/Offa Road, Ogun State). We found a three-story building on a lonely street with bushes surrounding it. Upon entry, we met a nurse, who confirmed our appointment with the doctor.
The nurse then checked this reporter’s vitals and asked a series of contact questions, filling out the necessary forms as she went. Once the checks were complete, the reporter was instructed to sit in the waiting area until the head doctor could see her.
Varying certificates
As we stepped through the door, our attention was immediately drawn to a certification from the Lagos State Ministry of Health’s Traditional Medicine Board. The document has registration numbers LS/TMB/KJA/P. 8800/03-22, a Lagos registration number for a clinic in Ogun State.
Alongside it were other certificates: one from the Traditional Medicine Board, registering her as a Traditional Birth Attendant and General Practitioner in traditional medicine, and another from the University of Lagos, certifying her completion of a diploma in Herbal Medicine.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) as health workers who play a crucial role in maternal health, especially in low-resource settings like Nigeria. They assist mothers during childbirth, acquiring skills through personal experience or apprenticeship with other TBAs.
TBAs undergo training facilitated by government health agencies to learn about the correct usage of certain medications. This training aims to improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes by equipping them with the knowledge of when and how to use these medicines effectively.
Despite training in administering specific medications, TBAs do not formulate or produce medicine. Their role is more aligned with applying existing medical knowledge rather than developing new pharmaceutical products.
However, this is far from reality. Adegeye formulated herbal concoctions, prescribed medicine, and rendered professional services even with her certificates from the traditional medicine board stating her qualification as a traditional birth attendant.
Practitioners involved in herbal formulations and professional medicine services typically need certification from both the Traditional Medicine Board (for herbal products) and registration with the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (for medicine prescription and pharmaceutical services).
Busola Adegbesin, a medical doctor at the University of Gambia, emphasised that the formulation and administration of medicine by Traditional Birth Attendants in Nigeria carries significant risks due to unregulated practices, potential toxicity, infection transmission, delayed medical referrals, and unsafe management techniques.
Bello Adediran, Director of Research, Training and Development, Lagos Traditional Medicine Board, also noted that TBA’s cannot work outside their scope of practice. “Even in the medical profession, a gynaecologist can not function as an oncologist; you must have a speciality and stand as an expert,” he said.
He also noted severe punishments for practitioners working outside their registered scope of practice.
The doctor
When it was finally our reporter’s turn to see the doctor, Adegeye instructed her to sit. But before beginning the consultation, she excused herself to tend to the food she was cooking upstairs. After some time, she returned and casually asked about the issue.
Without further testing or requesting any previous medical results, Adegeye began prescribing medications as soon as she heard the mention of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).
The consultation lasted over three hours, interrupted repeatedly as Mrs. Adegeye left to supervise her cooking. Despite these distractions, she confidently stated, “I’ll give you medicine that will ensure you’re pregnant by December,” without the reporter mentioning at any point a desire to get pregnant.
She prescribed a mix of remedies, including kellegen water, peppermint leaves, honey, and several other herbal treatments.
The clinic’s hygiene
The ground floor of the one-storey building functions as a waiting room, a doctor’s office, a medicine storage area, a toilet, and an empty room, while the floor above is her residential house.
According to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control NAFDAC’s guidelines for herbal medicinal products, sanitation and hygiene should be practised to avoid contamination of products. It should cover personnel, premises, equipment, production materials, and containers.
The medicine
The Food, Drug, and Related Products Act Cap F33 LFN 2004 (formerly Decree 19 of 1993) and the accompanying guidelines state that no herbal medicinal product should be manufactured, exported, advertised, sold, or distributed in Nigeria unless registered and declared safe for consumption.
A glance at all the medicine Mrs Adegeye sold us showed no registration number but a tag stating, “The Food and Drug Administration has not evaluated these statements. This product is for reverse(sic) early menopause.”
She also added other products to the sets, including a product from Ghana, Kellegen water, some powdered plants, and an herbal concoction popularly known as agbo.
Every finished product should bear a production identification number, which enables the history of the product to be traced.
Speaking to store owners and people around the hospital, they noted that they stopped patronising the clinic because of the outrageous prices and little or no treatment response.
A store owner in the area explained that she took her sister to the clinic for hypertension treatment. After the outrageous payment and the hype around the medicine, she stated that the medicine didn’t work, so she stopped patronising.
“I own a store in the area, but one time, I decided to take my sister to her clinic for a high blood pressure-related case. After treating my sister for three days and making numerous promises, my sister was not getting better. I decided to take her away because the prices were so high and the medicine had no effect,” the store owner said.
Ghost to the authorities
We tried visiting the website mentioned on her Facebook flyer, but it doesn’t work or reveal anything. We subjected the website to a scam adviser, who admitted that it is either not active or does not exist.
Before a clinic can run, it must be registered with The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), so we checked the CAC’s website. Our search revealed that the name Amazon Nature Clinic was not registered.
We also contacted Amina Miango, a lawyer, to conduct a background check on the clinic, but she could not find anything publicly available about it. She confirmed that the clinic was not registered. If a clinic is not registered with the CAC, it may be considered non-existent legally. This means it cannot operate as a recognised entity, which can lead to legal challenges and loss of credibility in the healthcare sector.
Officials within the CAC confirmed the accuracy of our public search.
The Nigeria Health Facility Registry (HFR) lacked records, registration, license date, and address of the clinic, raising questions about her license status as a clinic owner in Nigeria.
We also contacted the Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board (LSTMB), which regulates the code of conduct and practice of traditional medicine practitioners in Lagos State and accredits, inspects, monitors, and licenses all conventional medicine practitioners.
The Director of Research, Training and Development, Lagos Traditional Medicine Board, stated that before a practitioner is licensed, there are procedures they must follow, including an apprenticeship practice, which Adegeye went through. Adegeye, however, was accredited as a Traditional Birth Attendant. He noted that licensed practitioners are warned that they are neither medical doctors nor nurses and expected to stay within their line of duty and not treat conditions beyond their training.
“The practitioner in question was confirmed to be licensed as a traditional medicine practitioner in Lagos, but operates a facility in Ogun State. She holds a diploma in herbal medicine from the University of Lagos. She was licensed to practice, not to operate a facility. If found to be violating the scope of her license (e.g., claiming to cure cancer), disciplinary action may follow after a formal investigation and petition,” he concluded.
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Statement from NAFDAC
Bitrus Fraden, Director of the Post-Marketing Surveillance Unit at NAFDAC, revealed that the agency does not license the medicine sold at Amazon Nature Clinic. He emphasised the importance of public awareness regarding product labelling and the dangers of unregistered medicine, which often lack clinical testing and safety assurance.
Fraden highlighted that all imported products, including those from Ghana, must be registered with NAFDAC to be sold legally in Nigeria. Products labelled with disclaimers such as “not evaluated by NAFDAC” have not undergone clinical trials or laboratory testing, making their safety and efficacy unverified.
While acknowledging the potential of herbal remedies, Fraden stressed that their production must adhere to scientific and safety standards. He noted that NAFDAC supports traditional practitioners by organising workshops and offering guidance on proper formulations and dosages. However, some practitioners misuse these opportunities, creating challenges in regulating the sector.
To gain NAFDAC approval, products must pass rigorous evaluations to ensure consumer safety. Any harmful product is denied registration outright. Fraden confirmed that Amazon Clinic’s medicine had not undergone these essential processes and announced plans to investigate its operations to enforce compliance with regulatory standards.
“Medicines derived from plants must be properly tested and approved; otherwise, they pose serious health risks,” Fraden concluded.
Community enemies are after me— Bose Adegeye
In a phone interview, Bose Adegeye of Amazon Nature Clinic confirmed to DUBAWA that NAFDAC has not evaluated her products because she formulated them. She also deviated from questions about the status of her medicines and whether they are scientifically tested in the Lab.
“I noticed that when you stay in a community like mine, people are against you because you try to keep everything in order. I have developed enemies around me, I know that I have community enemies around me because I try to correct them when they play loud music or throw dirt around,” she replied in Yoruba language.
Ms Adegeye answered incoherently to all the questions asked by DUBAWA.
What next?
We sent copies of all medicines purchased from Ms Adegeye’s clinic to NAFDAC to inspire enforcement action and disciplinary measures. The Lagos State government’s Traditional Medicine also promised to set up a panel to investigate Ms Adegeye’s claims and take necessary precautions.