For over a year, controversial Nigerian sex therapist Hauwa Mohammed, known as Jaruma, has been out of the spotlight.
During this period, there were speculations that Jaruma, who prides herself on being Nigeria's most trusted, most successful and highest paid sex therapist in the past decade, was in rehab for drug addiction.
Similar to singer Timaya's public confession about his drug problems and how he overcame them in February, Jaruma shared a similar experience during NDLEA's weekly interactive forum on X on Friday.
Jaruma, who runs a sexual enhancement brand, last made headlines in March 2023 after revealing that he charges N1 million for a physical meeting and N250,000 for a telephone conversation.
Her appearance confirmed speculation about drug addiction that has dogged her for months.
She narrated how a famous Lagos-based plastic surgeon and his friend drove her to drug addiction during NDLEA's X-space titled 'Drug Dependence: Addressing the Fear of Stigmatization in Recovery and Overcoming the Demon of Drugs and Stigma: A Survivor's Story'.
Jaruma revealed that she was introduced to the world of hard drugs by her friend (name withheld) and Dr. Anu (founder of MedContour Services LTD).
Article page with promotion of financial support Introduction to hard drugs
The businesswoman attributed her introduction to hard drugs to the unexpected fame she experienced at an early age.
She said, “I once made a video on YouTube talking about something. It was just a plan; I didn’t know that the video would go viral and turn me into the Jaruma everyone knows. I was trying to get a job and earn a regular income. Being in the spotlight, I made some mistakes. I never got involved with drugs during my high school and college days because I was my mother’s only daughter. One day, a friend who knew I was a drug user (marijuana) invited me to hang out. We were chilling together and she offered me the marijuana, but I declined, saying it was okay.
“She then asked me how I relax since I don’t drink or smoke and mentioned that every celebrity has a way of relieving stress. I told her that I can’t do drugs or drink because I’m a Muslim. A few days later, I saw them with a balloon and wondered what the hell they were doing with it. I had no idea what it was. She said, ‘Let me show you. ’ If I had known what balloon (hard drug) was, I would have turned it down, just like I turned down marijuana before because I know what weed (cannabis) is, what codeine is and all that, so when it’s offered to me, I can say no.”
Reactions to medications
Jaruma revealed that his brain shut down after inhaling the contents of a balloon given to him by a friend.
The businesswoman added that she began drooling excessively after her brain function ceased.
“I was on the floor and then she (my friend who gave me the hard drug) told me that that was the initial effect, but after I did it one, two, three, four times, I would get used to it and it would become normal and I wouldn’t drool anymore. That was something I didn’t know. She gave me the balloon, put it in my mouth (I don’t know how they do it, there’s a way to do it so the gas fills the balloon), and then she put it in my mouth and said, ‘Just inhale it,’ and I did.
“After I regained consciousness, I left because I was very upset, I was very angry because I don’t do drugs. So I left and I never spoke to her again. This is just the beginning with this (drugs); being in the spotlight means people influence you, either positively or negatively, because if I wasn’t Jaruma or popular, she wouldn’t be with me. I never spoke to her again. I was angry and I was determined not to get into any drug cycle,” said the Gombe-born businessman.
Enter Dr. Anu
During the X-spot, the mother-of-one claimed that she became addicted to drugs after her encounter with the Lagos plastic surgeon and that she could not control her body's reaction to substance abuse.
The graduate in International Relations and Human Therapy from Istanbul Cultural University, Turkey, said she has taken legal action against Dr. Anu.
Jaruma said: “I don’t know her (Dr Anu). She messaged me on Instagram and told me how she performed plastic surgery on a woman and she died. She said Nigerians were trolling her on social media and in real life; when I came back to Nigeria after years of being away (in 2018) in Dubai, she came to visit me and when we were talking, she said, ‘Honey, let me give you an injection. If I give you that injection, you will sleep like never before. You will forget all your problems. ’ So, I sat up, she grabbed my arm and then she gave me the injection in my vein. The moment it touched my blood, I felt something from the back of my neck to my shoulders. My body felt something I had never felt before.
“While she was giving me the injection, I fainted until I was completely unconscious for about two weeks. When I woke up, my hand and veins were swollen. After a few weeks, I called her and asked if I could get more of the medicine. A packet cost N60,000 and I bought one worth N820,000. She would send me the injections and sometimes she would come and give me them herself. I also hired nurses to inject me every night to help me sleep, but eventually one dose stopped working for me. So I had to start taking two, then three, up to five doses, and that’s when my body started convulsing, as if I had epilepsy, and I started foaming at the mouth.”
She revealed that she began vomiting, purging and suffering from other types of ailments when she tried to stop using drugs.
Suicide
Jaruma further claimed that her illnesses forced her to continue using the injections recommended by Dr Anu and that she felt depressed and thought about committing suicide.
She said: “I just wanted to die and I purposely injected myself with ten ampoules (ten of the injection) because I was tired of life, school, work and everything. There is nothing worth living for. When my workers found me, I was not breathing. I administered the injection myself into a major vein in my wrist. I was losing consciousness and the needle started to fall out. When the needle fell out, blood from the large vein started to gush out.
“It was a horrible sight to see; it was terrifying. The next thing I knew I was surrounded by big machines and doctors trying to bring me back to life. I had gotten to the point where I committed suicide – I’m not going to call it a suicide attempt; this was my suicide. It’s not even an attempt because I died. My heart wasn’t beating and I wasn’t breathing.”
As Space X was closing down, PREMIUM TIMES asked Jaruma if she had gotten justice (in the legal proceedings she initiated against Dr Anu), and she replied, “We wrote a petition against her (Dr Anu) because I was angry, but unfortunately, when she died, I just forgave her. I forgave her because she is dead; she died last week.”