Faced with threat from a dreaded disease that has neither cure nor vaccine, panicking Nigerians are turning to salt water bath recommended by a Nigerian king.

Nigerians are scurrying to salt water bath for protection from Ebola virus after a call from the ruler
of the Igala Kingdom, the Attah of Igala, prescribing
salt solution as a magical vaccine against the Ebola virus to his subjects went viral.

But the Nigerian government has issued a statement warning that bathing with salted baths is not a cure for the deadly Ebola Virus.

Local radio and TV stations in Kogi state quoted the king, the Attah of Igala, Idakwo Michael Ameh Oboni,
late Thursday, as making the prescriptions from his
palace in Idah, the traditional capital of Igalaland. The king offered the purported prescription after the Nigerian government declared that the pandemic had become a national emergency.

The prescription, originally intended for people of the
Igala Kingdom, quickly went viral on social media
and text messaging platforms.

Relatives also made calls to one another advising
one another to bath with salt-water solution. The salt solution bath remedy was reinforced after claims that a powerful Catholic priest, Ejike Mbaka, also made calls for followers to perform some religious vaccination which included drinking salt water.

Salt and water are the major ingredients of the Holy
Water used for a wide range of physical and spiritual
purpose by Catholics.

The Igala vaccine

The Igala king’s “magical prescription” was received
with great enthusiasm by residents panicked by the spread of the virus around the West African subregion.

According to local report, the Attah of Igala prescribed that a pinch of salt be added to about 15 litres of water and used for a soapless bath. One bath with the salt solution is all that is required, residents who admitted performing the ‘immunization’ ritual, told PREMIUM TIMES. “We have nothing to lose with a salt water bath,” Attanasius Ameh, a resident of Idah in Kogi state
said, justifying the ritual.

He argued that faced with a no-vaccine-no-cure situation, a simple salt solution bath as a potential vaccine was a chance shot at survival many were willing to take.

“I have done it,” Juliet Gimba, a resident of Lokoja said. “I put a pinch of salt in a bucket full of water and had my bath without soap. I bathed all my
children with it too. There is no cure for Ebola. This
is the best I can do to protect my family.” There is no medical proof that salt water solution could prevent the transmission of Ebola. The king did not also explain how he came about the prescription.

Nonetheless, many Nigerians who spoke to
PREMIUM TIMES admitted they’ve had the saline
bath. An Abuja resident, Patience Enang, 36, told
PREMIUM TIMES that her husband, a soldier, had
called her by 5am, Friday morning, from Kaduna,
asking her to bath their three children with the
solution. She did.

The Maiduguri salt rush

Residents of Maiduguri, capital city of Borno state,
defiled the tense security situation in the state to
join in the ritual bath frenzy after text messages were
circulated late Thursday night.
Many cut short their sleeps to carry out the ritual.
In Maiduguri, the vaccination had a twist. It was to
be performed within a given period.
“Ebola has finally entered Maiduguri! To prevent
ebola sickness use hot water to bathe before 4am.
Ebola is real!” the text message, which sent
residents scampering for the bath late in the night,
read.
Some residents, who did not have salt in their
homes, had to go knocking on the doors of their
neighbours around 3.00 am, just to beat the
‘deadline’.

A different version of the Maiduguri ritual bath
included instructions to recite some verses of the
Quran, drink part of the salted water before bathing
with the rest. All these were to be done before 4am.

Mystical lineage

The Attah of Igala, Idakwo Michael Ameh Oboni, is
believed to have mystical powers, inherited from his
father, Attah Ameh Oboni, who is regarded – in the
kingdom – to be as powerful as gods.
Attah Ameh Oboni is revered for his stiff resistance
of Britain during the colonial era, and the Sultanate,
which tried to annex Igalaland as part of the largely
muslim Sokoto caliphate.