By PATRICK ABANG, Calabar –
The Cross River State of Health Taskforce has clamped down several fake surgeons and medical centres in the state.
During its latest round of enforcement, the task force apprehended an 84 years old fake surgeon by name Simon Okuta Agba.
Mr. Okuta was apprehended on the 3rd Jan, 2023, after officials of the agency raided his clinic called Life First Clinic in Ukpah, Bekwarra Local Government Area of Cross River State.
Dr. David Ushie, the Special Adviser to the Cross River State Governor on Health and Chairman of the state taskforce disclosed this in Calabar.
Besides Mr. Okuta, the current operations closed down 5 facilities and arrested 7 persons from Yala, Ogoja and Bekwarra.
In Yala, one Rosemary Irima, who owned and operated Devine Favour Clinic and Maternity had her facility sealed and practice items confiscated by the Taskforce.
In Abakpa and Igoli in Ogoja, 3 persons were arrested for Hawking or selling so-called Islamic herbal products that make claims to cure all manner of diseases. The medications have no NAFDAC safety certifications and they show no credible manufacturer’s information.
Those arrested over this included – Michael Chia and Michael Ani (both now charged in court) and one Rabiu whose shop was sealed by taskforce along Audu street.
Similarly, the task force arraigned quacks in Ogoja on the 5th Jan, 2023 in its second batch of court charges in 3 months.
The first was the arraignment of 6 quacks by October 2022 comprising of those arrested from Alladim community of Ogoja in Sept of 2022.
Giving details about the raid, where the 84 year old fake surgeon was apprehended, Dr. David Ushie said the fake clinic was raided following reports of suspicious deaths, maiming and even defrauding of members of the Public of their monies through a ridiculous surgery price regime which Simon and his team have been adopting to lure their victims.
“On our investigation, we discovered one Simon Okuta Agba, an elderly man said to be 84 years who has been running this unregitered facility under several names, currently called Life first Clinic.
“Mr. Simon has been running this facility by providing “cheap” costing for Surgical Operations and nearly every one who goes there with medical complaints will always have surgery.
‘On this tour, we met a total of 12 patients on admission, out of this, 11 of them have had surgeries carried out within 4 days from 31st of December, 2022.
“The only one who didn’t have surgery was the one who came a few hours before we arrived and he was already booked by Mr. Simon Okuta for surgery. So, if we did not go there, he was going to operate on this man after the surgery which he was handling before we arrived his premises.
“We met him conducting surgery on two patients, one a hernia and the other, appendix. These are the diagnosis that he assigns to nearly every patient even as the patients never really get the purported surgery since they adopt skin cuts with suturing while their patients are under anesthesia. The patients wake in the false believe that they had surgery.
“Mr. Simon employed other quacks who run sections in his hospital called laboratory who are not laboratory scientists.
“He has sections where they conduct ultra sound scan and the people are not radiographers, not even radiologists.
“He has nurses who are not trained, he gives anaesthesia by himself, and sundry activities that all take place in a very unhygienic facility.
“We observed heartbreaking professional violations. “Every patient keeps their used injection syringe and needle by their bedsides. When they were asked about the presence of a used syringe and needle on their beds, each patient says,” the doctors use those syringe and needle when they give me my injection”.
“It is very sad to know that Mr. Simon transfuses blood, no body knows how he Cross matches blood, he has no pathologist or doctor that does the confirmation of the safety of this blood.
“, he said.
Dr Ushie further disclosed that investigations show that Mr. Simon “is not a doctor and has never gone to a medical school to train as a health personnel, he has no license, has no certificate, and the same is the case with all the staff that work with him. Life first Clinic Ukpah is also not registered with the Cross River State Ministry of Health as a health service provider”, he said.
Dr Ushie added that the culprit and others arrested have been arraigned in court by the Department of Public prosecution in Ogoja in Friday, 6th Jan 2023.
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