Hamisu Ibrahim (not real name), a Gombe-based student has recounted how an Islamic cleric, Mallam Abubakar Sadiq, popularly known as Sadiq Pharmacy swindled him out of N20,000 with a promise of changing his genotype from AS.
The student told WikkiTimes he was convinced by the cleric’s sermon during a Juma’at prayer where he claimed weak genotypes could be altered.
“In one of his pre-khutba at a Friday mosque, the Sheikh said genotype classification can be changed and he has a remedy for that, so I decided to contact him,” Hamisu said.
“People encouraged me to contact him. And he was also confident about it when I met him,” Hamisu added. “He even told me that he had treated people with that issue in the past while using Quranic verses to convince me that every disease has a cure.”
Hamisu confirmed that he had never met or heard testimony regarding the sheikh changing people’s genotypes.
MARITAL COMPATIBILITY
Desperation had led Hamisu to patronize the sheikh when he was striving for genotype compatibility to marry his fiancee.
“I was in love with a young woman and just a few months into our marriage, we decided to carry out a genotype compatibility test which proved us both to be AS,” he told WikkiTimes. “I was surprised. Because I had a genotype test a few years back at Gidan Magani Hospital and the results showed that I was AA.”
Subsequent tests carried out three times proved that he was indeed an AS. However, Hamisu sought the assistance of the sheikh in his desperate situation.
THE SCAM
“I spent the sum of N20,000 for some concoctions that were supposed to last 12 days and renewed for 70 days for a complete dosage,” he explained.
The medication he was given included camel milk, olive oil and several other concoctions. However, after 20 days of consuming them, he carried out another genotype test as required which turned out to be the same AS.
“I met him again (Sadiq Pharmacy) but he insisted that my body system was just not cooperating with the medication and that people that bought the medicine at the same time as myself have given positive feedback,” he said.
Hamisu added that the sheikh persuaded him to buy more of the medication but he refused, partly because he could afford it and he felt “scammed” further.
FACT-CHECK
In October 2022, PRNigeria conducted a fact-check after a video of the sheikh went viral claiming genotype change theory.
While proving the claim to be false, PRNigeria spoke to a specialist, Dr. Mustapha Muhammad, who works with the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
According to him, the genotype doesn’t change at all but a phenotype – an individual’s observable traits, such as height, eye colour and blood type – can change due to environmental factors.
READ: Why Twitter Suspended My Account — Gombe PPRO
“Medically, there are some certain factors that need to be critically observed when things like this happen. The previous results might either be faulty or the last one is. But the genotype is an inherent phenomenon that cannot be changed in an adult.
“I’ve never come across any academically compliant literature that shows that the genotype changes over time,” he said.
Several times, WikkiTimes tried contacting the Sheikh on the matter but to no avail.
He did not respond to calls. Also, a text sent to had not been responded to at press time.
