POLICE ARREST SUSPECTED FAKE MEDICAL DOCTOR IN LAGOS

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A 37-year-old impostor and medical practitioner who may have had his credentials falsified has been taken into custody by the Zone 2 Police Command in Onikan, Lagos.

Olatoye Durosinmi, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of the zone, verified the arrest on Tuesday while presenting the suspect to reporters in Lagos.

Durosinmi said that operatives of the Zonal Anti-Piracy Unit arrested the suspect, who claimed to be the Managing Director of Skylink Medical Centre in Ikorodu.

“Based on the intelligence gathered by the command through members of the Elepe community concerning the activities of the suspect, a team of detectives, led by SP Mariam Ogunmolasuyi, swung into action,” he said.

“The officers arrested the suspect, conducted a search and recovered two suspected forged certificates of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State and Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).

“Also recovered were immovable hospital equipment,” he said, adding that the hospital complex had been sealed, pending the outcome of an investigation.

According to Durosinmi, the suspect admitted to producing the certificates electronically because he did not receive a degree from the university or an MDCN certificate.

According to him, the suspect possesses only a West African School Certificate qualification.

The police chief said that part of the suspect’s confession was that he had a total of six members, two of whom were trained nurses, while four were amateurs.

“According to him, he worked as a Nursing Assistant at Fabo Medical Centre in the Majidun area of Lagos before establishing his own hospital,” he said.

The AIG further stated that the suspect claimed that he had successfully carried out three operations: two Cesarean sections and one appendicitis – during his three years of unlawful medical practice.

He said that the investigation so far revealed that the suspect had been operating the hospital without being a qualified medical practitioner.

Durosinmi urged members of the public not to hesitate to give information to the police whenever they suspected any unlawful practice.

He said that the command was working with the ministries of health in Lagos and Ogun States to rid the zone of such criminal elements.

The suspected fake medical doctor further told newsmen on the sidelines of the parade that he used to carry out general treatments and surgeries.

He said that he learnt the job for two-and-a-half years from someone before establishing his hospital.

“I am just a secondary school certificate holder but I forged the MBBS certificate,” the suspect said.