Operatives of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested a 37-year old fake medical doctor practising in the Ikorodu area of the state, with a forged certificate from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.
According to a video posted by the TVC on social media, the police said they discovered about 200 patient cards with the fake medical practitioner, Tayo Shakirudeeen, an indigene of Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Shakirudeen said he had treated malaria, typhoid, infections and performed operations on children suffering from appendix, after he learnt it where he worked as a Nursing Assistant at The Jones Hospital, Ojokoro along Ikorodu Road.
Asked how many years he had been treating patients with a fake certificate, he said three years claiming that it was his first time performing a proper surgery.
He also said it was a patient he treated that came with the policemen to arrest him, as he regretted his actions.
“I performed vital signs and abdominal scans. Then after confirmation, you do PCV (packed cell volume) and then you prepare the patient for the surgery. You clean the stomach with antiseptic Dettol with water. So after that, you give some anesthesia injection before starting the surgery,” Shakirudden said.
He used a surgical blade “to dissect the stomach, it’s appendix after opening the stomach then you cut the appendix after cutting the stomach then you suction the appendix then you suction the flesh fat and the skin then you pack it with gauze and apply plaster.”
It was gathered that he only holds SSCE from Majidun Grammar School, as he said he was arrested, “after performing the surgery, the patient has been discharged home. So after like three months, the patient came with the police to arrest me.”
He said there were no complications after treating the patient so he did not know the reason why the patent came back with the police.
“I charged one hundred fifty thousand, and I have six workers. My hospital is located in Ikorodu. It’s a new site but somewhere close to Elepe Estate. I regret every bit of my action so I would never advise anyone or if there’s anyone that is still hiding somewhere and doing such a thing they should desist from it,” he added.
Shakirudeen’s hospital is Skyline Medical Centre and noted that he is a married man with three children
Speaking about the certificate the police found with him, he said, “It’s a forged certificate from Obafemi Awolowo MBBS, Medicine, and Surgery. Nobody taught me, but I used to help my boss when he was performing the surgery.”
“To dissect the stomach, it’s appendix after opening the stomach then you cut the appendix after cutting the stomach then you suction the appendix, then you suction the flesh fat and the skin then you pack it with gauze and apply plaster,” he added.
The Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of zone 2 Olatoye Durosinmi, who spoke during the parade of the suspects 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.
Durosinmi said that the suspect confessed to the electronic production of the certificates, as he neither obtained any degree from the university nor any certificate from MDCN.
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.
