Published 6th Apr, 2022

By Mariam Hamzat

Dr Igudia, a Nigerian herbal ‘doctor’, has blocked a Mauritian customer after receiving $880 meant for diabetes medications.

Louise Michel (not real name), a citizen of Mauritius, saw Igudia’s advertisement on YouTube. Convinced of the medicine’s potency after reading various positive comments, Louise contacted the ‘doctor’.

For one of Igudia’s various herbal cures for diabetes, Louise was asked to pay $580.

“The doctor here told me that diabetes has no cure. But, because of the various comments on his YouTube page where people mentioned that they had been cured, I decided to pay for a chance to be cured,” Louise told FIJ.

After exploring various bank options, Igudia instructed Louise to send the money via Western Union to his account.

Igudia's confirmation of first payment — Igudia confirmed to Loise that he received the first payment

Not long after the payment however, Igudia told Louise that he would need more money to send the medicine through UPS. He told him that instead of the $150 he had often used to send the money, UPS was asking for $550, so he had to send another $300.

Lousie took a loan of $300 and sent it. Although he did not have the money, he wanted to live a good life unhindered by diabetes.

“The bank told me Nigeria is a risky country to send money to. They didn’t want to send the second payment to him. But Dr Igudia told me to tell them it’s my right to send money to any country of choice. My family members were worried and I didn’t tell them I was sending a second payment,” he said.

When the bank told Louise to ask Igudia for proof that he was real, all he got were words and promises. He said he was his only hope for a good life and told him not to joke with his health.

After receiving the second payment, Igudia stopped replying to Loise’s enquiries. He said he was busy, and then blocked him.

DR IGUDIA HERBAL

According to the bank details sent to Louise, the man behind Dr Igudia is Odigie Akoamen Joel. He lives in Edo state and uses an Access Bank account to receive payments.

For his ‘herbal business’, he has a Facebook page, an Instagram page and even a Youtube page, where he claims to “cure all kinds of chronic diseases with natural herbs medication with no side effects when taken”.

FIJ confirmed Louise’s claim that Dr Iguida’s comment section is filled with positive comments on YouTube.

Iguida does not show his face in his social media posts. Many of the pictures of his herb bottles had also been used by other ‘herbal doctors’ and do not bear his brand name.

When FIJ reached Igudia, he declined comment and blocked our phone number.

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