Ebola existed in Nigeria before now – Herbalist

As the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) continues to throw panic in the country, a renowned herbalist in Anambra State, Dr (Mrs) Flora Nkemakonam Ilonzo, has claimed that she knows Nigeria herbs that could prevent and cure the disease.
Ilonzo, who is the founder, Centre for Psychic and Healing Administration (CPHA) and Centre for Herbal Studies, Awka, told Oriental News that she was ready to make available some of the herbs to Nigerians and other world researchers for them to verify the authenticity or otherwise of her claim.
In a chat with Oriental News in her centre in Awka, Dr Ilonzo popularly known as Anyafulugo said that Ebola was the same as the Nchiche disease in Igbo land, adding that it has been in existence but had manifested in Nigeria three times before its present attack.
Relying on stories told her by her grandfather, who was also a herbalist, she said that the disease attacked in 1845, 1914 and 1974.
She said that her research showed that Ebola and Nchiche have the same symptoms, manifestation and infectious method, noting that she was sure that if those herbs used by her grandfather to heal those infected by Nchiche are applied to Ebola patients they would respond to treatment.
Research on Ebola
I normally have live radio programmes, but because of this issue I have not done it for some time now because I know people will ask me questions about it. Being an Igbo and a Nigerian, I have been watching people, knowing that once I mention something, some people will put it that maybe Anyafulugo Ilonzo has started curing Ebola, I am not. They misinterpret me, but I am happy because even people from outside Nigeria, the world over have been asking me what do I have on Ebola? We know that you have an idea. Even in my dream, it started to disturb me, why are you dodging? That’s why I decided to talk to you and I have come up with so many researches.
Ebola has been in existence, my grandfather said it happened 1845. His own father narrated to him that it happened again in 1914, then later in 1974. They have the similarities but in milder form. After these few weeks some people came up that they use bitter kola (Akuilu) like Maurice Iwu said. Some people came out to counter it, but I am here, I owe my God that duty to tell the world the truth. One, don’t because you are not the one that mentioned so, so and so, or that because you are not the one that mentioned bitter kola and condemn it, we are all learning.
Bitter kola is essential
First of all, everybody, all Igbo, all Nigerians should not ignore bitter kola. Over the years, on my radio and television programmes, I’m happy that I have all the video tapes where I mentioned that the gum in bitter kola has a special cure, it has something that when they boil it and remove the brownish gum, that it takes care of special illnesses, I didn’t know that maybe it will be for Nchiche. Ebola is what Igbo call Nchiche, they said in the olden days that you can’t shake somebody with Nchiche, you can’t hug them, in Igbo, they say, adighi ekwe onye Nchiche n’aka, adighi ebi onye Nchiche oma.
What was said about Ebola (Nchiche) in 1974
So, this is one part about bitter kola. My grandfather (my mother’s father) narrated how one family that was brought, it is here in this notebook I am holding, which I used in recording all that my grandfather told me. He spoke of a patient that was brought and the husband started having headache and running nose, by that time it has not started to bleed, but the wife had the bleeding of the nose, bleeding from the eyes, the same symptoms they are talking about now in Ebola. Then my grandfather said to me, Nkemakonam, you should go and bring pen and paper in case I am no more and this is the paper. First of all, see what you will use, as I’m saying it, and I’m telling those people both medical doctors, make sure as you are attending to those sick people, that my grandfather said the same medicine you use in treating them, that you should take even little dose of it before treating them. One, he warned me that I should not touch the patient and that before I do anything I should take what we call other gel, we have it in our garden, we have it in Igbo land, in Umunya, different places, I’m reminding you people now, if you have sickness you know that can infect other people in the olden days, they do cut the herbs and use it to cross the road. But my grandfather said not only by using it to cross the road, you should also cut the herb, it is wild sugarcane, Ginger Lily. Formerly they would cut it and place it on the door and road leading to people’s houses. But use it before you give it to anybody, first of all take it, you should take it one table spoon or two in the morning, rub it on your body then you drink it before attending to an Nchiche patient.  My grandfather now narrated that Nchiche is just like maggot, that once you perceive that person’s odour the maggot will enter you at the forehead. He used ram’s head to illustrate it, then that maggot will be at the forehead of that person where the nerves of the brain connect. Then that person will start to have fever, start to have headache, being like he is having malaria, the next thing is that, that maggot will start to cut, it will enter into the arteries and once it cuts those blood arteries connecting to that place; that once they slap you, you faint, once they slap you it touches all the points in your body, it will destabilize all the parts of your body. Once it enters there it moves, that it moves quick, that’s why once it starts to bite them, then instead of tears or pores coming out from the eyes, it brings out blood, the blood will also be coming out from the mouth, the nose and it will give them fever. Igbos know that we use Akpalata, that is Ule, go to Ose market, they sell Ule some people will tell you that they are selling it for ule okpa, no, is ule that they use if they are doing cocoyam festival. We have many plants that handle this but the most effective one is the ginger lily. They use it to prevent Nchiche (Ebola) not to circulate all over the body. Then he said once it starts to bring out blood, the next thing because of the heat for it brings out heat, the scratching, once that person starts to scratch the nose, the next thing in the morning you will see that the nose will blow up and from the point of the nose and the mouth, that nose will rupture, it will just pull out, that’s why they called it Nchiche na ebe imi. Why are we running up and down, people should relax, our forefathers had passed through this and they survived and we will survive it in Jesus name.
Other herbs that can handle Ebola
I have been worried as they are now carrying it so high that you can’t help your brother, you can’t help your sister. Then Afzelia African that is Akpalata handles it, it is anti-poison, it will help you in bleeding, it helps in so many cases, that’s why they use it. Then we have what they called, I don’t know the name of that one, you know I picked up the book by grandfather handed over to me written in 1974 last night, only that I brought out the plant because I know the plant, but I don’t know the English name, we call it Omakulu. That’s why they call it Omakulu, Omakulu helps, once that germs start to bite, it draws all their nerves and everything, they will push out blood from the mouth, nose, anus and everything as if to say the person is having epilepsy, Omakulu handles it. I’ve brought out Omakulu this morning, my grandfather showed me Omakulu, and he showed me Ginger lily the one I said they should rub because he warned me as we treat those people he said, Nkemakonam before you give this people this medicine make sure that you use it to rub all over your body, and you drink it to protect yourself and then anybody that will enter to meet those people, you will first of all give to the person before he or she enters. So, it is left for Nigeria and the whole world to test. I am not asking you people for money but the promise I made to my God that I will not know anything that is beneficial to mankind and hide it without giving it out to people, that is what am fulfilling. If I die tomorrow, once they bury me all that my knowledge and the ones my grandfather handed over to me, all of them will be wasted and maggot will just eat them, so I’m giving it out to all researchers. They should come and have it, the most annoying thing is that I’ve tried to gather even other herbalists, they know so many things but the professors, so many people have failed them because they will send students to gather information about plants but will not acknowledge them when they write or produce with it. I am happy now that the world over when you Google something about cocoyam, they will tell you Fin Ilonzo mentioned about cocoyam 1980 something, they will tell you that Fin Ilonzo, that I have used it (cocoyam) to handle pile, Chinedu pile. There are so many them, all those plants I have mentioned and gave lectures about outside Nigeria, you will see them acknowledging me. But it is not the same, however, I am happy with University of Nigeria Nsukka, they have been using my Centre for Herbal Studies for the past 17 years. I am promising my God that before I move back to Him, that I will have one big institution which I am building now, it is on, that is, Centre for Herbal Studies, Vocational Centre, that will handle so many things that will help humanity.