The Plateau State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association said on Wednesday that it had captured a bogus doctor who was allegedly performing medical treatments in schools and places of worship throughout the state.
Dr. Bapigaan Audu, the NMA’s state chairman, announced this in a statement issued on Wednesday and co-signed by the association’s Public Relations Officer, Dr. Istifanus Bako.
According to the NMA, the suspect, who went by many aliases such as George Ossai and Kelvin Paul, was caught in Jos following an investigation conducted jointly by the association and officials from the state’s Ministry of Health.
According to reports, the suspect was then brought to the Jos police headquarters and imprisoned there.
The statement partly read, “This is to inform our esteemed members and the general public that NMA Plateau, in collaboration with the Plateau State Ministry of Health, has facilitated the discreet investigation and subsequent arrest of another fake doctor engaging in nefarious activities in schools and places of worship across the state.
“The impostor, who goes by the names ‘George Ossai’ and ‘Kelvin Paul’, was apprehended on Monday, March 18, 2024, within the Jos metropolis and was transferred to the CID, Police Headquarters, Jos, the following day. The NMA Chairman has provided a statement to the police regarding the matter, while further investigations are ongoing.”
The association advised members of the public to report any suspected phoney doctor to the NMA Plateau State via any of its representatives.
It stated that complaints could also be filed with the Inspectorate Unit of the state’s Ministry of Health in Jos.
The statement added, “The NMA, while commending the security agencies for their cooperation, wishes to use this medium to urge the public to always seek the services of healthcare professionals within the confines of a health facility (clinic, hospital, or medical centre) rather than engaging with anyone selling’medicines’ or claiming to be a medical doctor.”
Chronicle NG reported that the police, in September last year, arrested Noah Kekere, a suspected quack doctor, after he was accused of harvesting a woman’s kidney during surgery.
The victim’s husband, Kamal, had accused Kekere of removing one of his wife’s kidneys during a procedure in 2018.