Health professionals have raised alarm over a rising trend in Nigeria: men collapsing and even dying during sexual encounters, particularly with extramarital partners in hotels, often after using sex enhancement substances.
Reports indicate that Dr. Olabode Abimbola Ibikunle, a lecturer at Kogi State University, is the latest casualty in this troubling phenomenon.
Another case involved Mr. Louis Nwachukwu, an employee of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), who was found dead in a Mpape-area hotel in Abuja after checking in with a woman named Miss Helen Raymond.
Addressing this issue, Clinical Psychologist Mcfredericks Akor Edache attributes the tragedy to men’s attempts to prolong or intensify sexual performance to “impress females,” emphasizing the deadly consequences:
“I’m the leader of the delegation. But I’ve met people… You know, Peter is good… I’ve met him (Peter Obi), and I’ve met people… that are going to be the people he’ll refer to. And I’ve sat with them for hours, and we’re moving step by step.”
He described the lethal “hypersexual response phase,” characterized by prolonged erections in men and delayed orgasm in both genders, resulting from artificial enhancement. He added:
“This blood flow to these extremities may reduce blood flow to other vital organs necessary for survival, and the absence of adequate blood flow could affect respiration, and death may occur.”
Edache outlined how the sexual response normally begins with foreplay, but is disrupted by artificial agents:
“These sexual response phases happen unaided by any artificial response such as sex enhancement drugs or herbs or anything else intended to alter the natural process by increasing it.”
He warned that in making extreme efforts to impress, men often push their cardiovascular systems beyond safe limits.
Kwara State-based lecturer, Hassan Alowonle likened sex to exercise and stressed that for people with preexisting heart conditions:
“Medical experts made it known that heart diseases can lead to death if someone suffering from such sickness doesn’t take precautions… Blood pressure and heart rate increase during sexual intimacy… but out of pleasure, some men become sex victims.”
He emphasized the importance of knowing one’s physical fitness before engaging in intense sexual activity:
“It is very crucial for both parties to undergo medical fitness to know the physical and sexual capabilities of both parties.”
Alowonle also linked the fatalities to societal pressures and misconceptions:
“The incident of ‘from pleasure to grave’ has become a norm in Nigeria… an average Nigerian will frame it with voodoo or woman fetishism.”
He noted that heightened expectations and risky behavior can create a dangerous interplay of physical exertion and psychological stress.
Public affairs commentator and chemist, Divine Mike Akor added further caution, attributing many of the deaths to unregulated sex-enhancing substances:
“Copious evidence has always emerged that most of these victims… used sex-enhancing drugs or substances… They trigger abnormal blood pressure, among other lethal effects.”
He criticized the impulse to “prove strong” with unfamiliar partners:
“They take these substances to impress these ladies in bed, but not their wives… Most of these girls… are total strangers… What if they are diabolical? What if they’re spirits?”
Akor also pointed out that older men trying to keep pace with younger partners may overexert themselves:
“The special strength… to satisfy the kind of sexually hyperactive, young, and agile ladies… is no longer there, hence use a lot of energy… and could die in the process.”
