The Deputy Secretary of Delta State Traditional Medicine Board, Barr (Mrs) Bridget Omonemu has described the protest by Agbo sellers in the state as uncalled for and an act of total disrespect to constituted authority, saddled with the responsibility of regulating the activities of traditional medicine practitioners in the state.
She made this statement while responding to issues raised by the Agbo sellers under the Asiwaju of Okpanam, saying that no resident of the state has a right to go against government policies or hold a regulatory body to ransom.
According to Omonemu, “The allegation that our field officers are chasing them about and not allowing them to sell their products until they pay #30,000 to obtain a practicing certificate and another #4,000 to obtain identity card every six months is not really true.
“What we do as a regulatory and revenue generating Board, is to oversee everything under the purview of traditional medicine, which the Agbo product is part of. They fall under native doctors, and a doctor – trained physician or native is a person who administers substance for the wellbeing of somebody. Of course, we have our guideline for this.
“Now, these girls come to town to sell these products for their employers who do the processing and production; sometimes they buy, cook and sell. And we said, let the oga (Agbo business owner) come to register with us and obtain a practicing certificate/licence with a fee of #30,000.00. And to keep a monitoring record of the sellers, they should obtain an annual identity card to enable us keep a track on them. This is what the law setting up the Board said, that we must maintain a register of traditional medicine practitioners in the state.
“It may interest you to know that we are not against their unions or associations. There are various groups or factions of these Agbo sellers under various Asiwajus. We don’t have any problem with the Asiwaju of Asaba, Ibusa, Agbor and the rest of them across the state, they are cooperating with us. The only one that is the problem is the Asiwaju of Okpanam who is organising these girls against the Board and the policies of government on traditional medicine.
“The Asiwaju came to the office the other day and walked out on us while we were still discussing. He doesn’t want to obey the law. He said we should leave the girls, that he would be the one dealing with us while the girls should remain under his supervision under the name of Yoruba Community Traditional Native Doctors Association. And we said no, we have had instances where some of these girls were asked to taste the product they are selling and they ran away.
“We have had cases of abnormal reactions after an Agbo was taken. In most cases they mix Tramadol and other substances of hard drug into the Agbo.
“These are some of the things we want to check and possibly give them orientation and trainings on how to handle their products in terms of the water used, environment where the Agbo is cooked, the use of disposable cups instead of one general cup serving everybody and many others”, Omonemu stated.
In the afternoon of Tuesday, 21st December, 2021, a group of women protested to Government House gate with placards bearing the inscriptions “The Delta State Traditional Medicine Board tormenting our lives, we the Agbo sellers in Asaba & Okpanam, etc”.
Our Correspondent sought to find out what was amiss, and they said that officials of the Delta State Traditional Medicine Board had been harassing them and chasing them about as they hawked their Agbo products.
They accused the Board of high-handedness and desperate attempt to compel them to pay #30,000 for certificate and another #4,000 for identity card every six months.
According to Mrs. Ariyo Sulihat who spoke on behalf of others, “Every attempt by the union to dialogue with the Board on the way forward proved abortive.
“They said they don’t know the union, that every sales girl must come to register. The officials have continued to arrest us for no just cause, because we are looking for what to eat.
“We want the Governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa to know that we don’t want to work with the Board; we already have an association. We belong to the Yoruba Community Traditional Medicine Association under a Native Doctor (Asiwaju). We are fine there, they should let us to do our work”, she said.
Moreover, efforts are on top gear by the Police, NDLEA and others to rid the city of Asaba and environs of hard drug. And from discreet investigations, it was gathered that some of these Agbo sellers move Indian Hemp (Igbo) along side their herbal products for sale to their customers at various locations of the capital city.
