INVESTIGATION: Women Burn Millions on Intravenous Beauty Drips, Buttocks Enlargement in Anambra Salons — Govt Warns Operators

By Tony Okafor, Awka

The RAZOR has uncovered a dangerous and fast-spreading trend in Anambra State, where beauty salons and wellness spas are offering unlicensed medical procedures — including intravenous (IV) beauty drips, buttocks enlargement, and chemical skin bleaching — to unsuspecting women desperate for instant cosmetic transformations.

From Awka to Onitsha, Nnewi to Ekwulobia, these salons have morphed into underground clinics, where unqualified attendants, often hairdressers and spa workers, inject clients with unknown substances in the name of beauty.

These procedures are being performed without medical licences, sterile conditions, or any form of regulatory oversight.

In some cases, women are paying hundreds of thousands — even millions — of naira for these risky enhancements.

While many of the clients are young women influenced by social media trends, The RAZOR can confirm that a growing number of middle-aged and older women — some in their late 50s and early 60s — are also embracing the dangerous fad.

Motivated by societal pressure and a desire to maintain youthful looks, these women are undergoing IV drips for skin brightening, facial lifts, and even buttocks enlargement, all within salon backrooms.

One shocking revelation came from a spa in Nnewi where, according to a former employee, a 62-year-old woman underwent a series of injectable buttocks enhancements over several weeks.

“She wanted a fuller shape like she saw online,” the source said. “The injections were imported by the spa owner. We just mixed and injected based on instructions from YouTube.”

The woman, according to the employee, later suffered severe swelling and had to be treated discreetly at a private clinic.

In another high-end salon in Awka, The RAZOR witnessed marketing materials promoting what they called a “Bum Lift Drip Package” and “Hip Enlargement Boost.” When asked about who administers these procedures, the receptionist said, “We have our own technician — she’s been doing it for over a year.”

In Onitsha, a boutique owner named Chidimma said she paid ₦600,000 for a combination of “butt enhancement shots” and IV glow therapy over a two-month period.

“I thought it was safe. They made it look normal. But after the last injection, I started having complications. My legs went numb for hours,” she recalled, visibly distressed.

Following public concern, the Anambra State Ministry of Health has launched a sweeping crackdown on these illegal practices.

In a confidential memo obtained and later confirmed by The RAZOR, the Ministry — under the leadership of the Honourable Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Obidike, and with the approval of Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo — invoked the Anambra State Health Facilities Accreditation and Monitoring Agency (ASHEFAMA) Law of 2023 to begin immediate enforcement.

The memo makes clear that no salon, spa, or cosmetology centre in Anambra State is authorised to perform medical or dental procedures — including IV drips, teeth whitening, chemical peels, body contouring — without proper accreditation, medical licensing, and inspection.

All facilities offering such services have been given a deadline of Monday, June 27, 2025, to report to the Directorate of Medical Services at the Ministry of Health headquarters in Awka for screening and registration.

Any business that fails to comply will be shut down, equipment seized, blacklisted publicly, and prosecuted under state health laws.

A Government source said, “This is not just illegal — it is deadly. People are injecting poison into their bodies without knowing the contents or consequences. The government will not sit back and watch our mothers, sisters, and daughters be turned into test subjects by quacks.”

“We support beauty and wellness enterprises — but only within the boundaries of the law and science. Anyone endangering lives in the name of profit will face the full force of the law.”

As enforcement teams begin storming suspected salons, emergency phone lines and whistleblower channels have been activated for the public to report illegal operations.

Government has assured that it will continue to work with communities and civil society to restore safety and sanity in the beauty and wellness industry.