From Wilson Okereke, Afikpo
This is not the best of times for quack traditional medicine practitioners in Ebonyi State. Many of them claim to have solutions to all manners of diseases including the unimaginable ones. 
The state chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Traditional Medicine Practitioners (NANTMP), embarked on self-redemption mission by unleashing heat on quacks in the industry. Its branch chairman, Chief Augustine Ekechi, vowed in Abakaliki: “There is no hiding place for fraudulent herbalists who have infiltrated the trade with their unwholesome products.”
He spoke during the destruction of the seized counterfeit and harmful concoctions at the Ministry of Health premises. He said the essence was to prevent the substances from entering the market where they might be ignorantly bought and consumed by members of the public.
He disclosed: “The confiscated herbal products lacked NAFDAC numbers, known addresses, manufacturing and expiration dates. The owners equally lacked certificate authorising them to operate from the health ministry.
“How could a rational human grind a great quantity of ordinary charcoal, sieve it, mix it with water and begin to carry the same after bottling it, from one street or market to another claiming that the substance works for all kinds of stomach upset.
“But through the eagle eyes of the members of our taskforce, the culprit after being apprehended, admitted to the crime and as a result surrendered the rest of his fake medicines to our office.
“Whoever comes to my office at the Ministry of Health will see heaps of the seized fake herbal products. This is why I am advising that people should discover their areas of specialty rather than causing harm to public with all kinds of junk.”
One of the fake medicine dealers, John from Enugu State, confessed he ventured into the illegal business but blamed it on frustration. He then pleaded for leniency.
On the crisis allegedly rocking the association, Ekechi claimed that some executive members of the body, out of greed, were involved in extortion of money from other members after falsifying his signature:
“When I got the information that they had even fraudulently collected about N340,000 from a member, I quickly reported the matter to the Commissioner for Health and the Commissioner of Police. After a proper investigation, the people behind the act were arrested.
“But instead of the people to be remorseful over their behaviour, they came out and began to accuse me of misappropriating the union’s fund. Based on this false allegation, they were invited by the Commissioner for Health, Dr Umezuruike, to come and prove the claim. None of them has shown up.