- Says medical facility not registered with government, alleges officials who visited unregistered hospital might be fake
- NMA reacts, reveals how citizens can expose quack health practitioners
The Osun State Government has explained its challenges in tackling quackery in the state health industry.
In an exclusive interview with The Point in reaction to the release of a secondary school leaver, Saheed Toyin Oladiti, arrested for operating as a medical doctor at a hospital he established over six years ago, the state Commissioner for Health, Jola Akintola, said the fake doctor who was set free by the Ministry of Justice “might have been released on bail.”
Akintola said it is not an easy task to identify and fish out quacks, but assured that Oladiti would not escape prosecution.
The Point had reported that Oladiti, aged 32, was arrested by operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Osun State Command over the death of a pregnant woman and running an unlicensed clinic.
Oladiti, whose three bedroom illegal clinic is situated at number 2, Lakewu Area, Ororuwo, Boripe Local Government Area of the state, has been parading himself as a medical doctor for the past six years after he founded a clinic in the community.
In another exclusive interview with the suspect, he had confessed to The Point that he attended to a pregnant woman, Olanike Ibikunle, during childbirth which led to her death on April 18, 2024.
Oladiti explained that he was able to treat hundreds of people in his community, delivered numerous pregnant women of their babies and also prescribed drugs to several patients unchecked.
The ‘Chief Medical Director’ of the illegal clinic Christened ‘Oloruntoyin Clinic, Ororuwo,’ had explained that he struggled to gain admission to study medicine at a university and become a certified medical doctor but there was no one to assist him financially.
According to the indigene of Osun State, he had wanted to become a medical doctor from childhood but the sudden death of his father added in crumbling his dream.
Asked if any health officials from the state Ministry of Health or other authority had once visited his health facility for inspection, he said, “Some health officials used to come for inspection but they have never had any issues with me because this incident (death of patient) has never happened to me before.”
Meanwhile, after Oladiti was handed over to the Osun State Ministry of Justice by the NSCDC for prosecution, The Point discovered that the suspect was set free and had since returned to the community where he was sighted at the unlicensed clinic.
When contacted by The Point to explain how Oladiti got to be released, the Osun State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Jimi Bada, didn’t pick telephone calls and neither did he respond to text messages sent to him.
Reacting, however, the Commissioner for Health said the suspect might have been released on bail since the Ministry of Justice does not have custody to keep suspects, arguing that Oladiti’s offence is bailable.
Akintola confirmed that Oladiti’s medical facility is not registered with the Ministry of Health, saying that the health officials the suspect claimed had visited his clinic might be fake officials.
Explaining the actions he took after reading of Oladiti’s arrest, the Health Commissioner said, “Immediately, I spoke with the NMA Chairman in Osun State, who confirmed the arrest and I advised him on what to do to follow up so that when they conclude investigation, he (suspect) may be prosecuted and needs to serve as deterrence to others.
“I am aware from information I garnered from the Chairman of NMA, that there are a lot of fake people practicing; people who are not medical doctors that parade themselves as medical doctors. I am aware they are everywhere. There are fake engineers, fake doctors, and even fake journalists.
“Now, I advised them to get in touch with the Ministry of Justice and of course, I have equally spoken with the Attorney General that men of the civil defence should contact his office as soon as investigation is concluded so that the man will be made to face full wrath of the law and we are following it up.
“Incidentally, we checked our records and he (Oladiti) has no record with the Ministry of Health. We don’t know him, we don’t know his facility.”
When asked why health officials the suspect claimed had visited his facility did not discover his illegal practice, Akintola said, “Those he claimed visited must be fake health officials like him. We don’t have a record of him and his facility.”
On what the Ministry would do to tackle the menace, the Commissioner pointed out that, “With this development, we have to advise that they (the regulatory and monitoring unit in the ministry) intensify efforts at fishing out quacks. Unfortunately, it is not something that is that easy to identify, and we intend to strengthen the unit and see that they do more in terms of monitoring and that is why I advise that this one (Oladiti) be prosecuted to serve as deterrence to others.
“If he (Oladiti) has been released on bail, I know that some offences are bailable. In fact, every offence is bailable. The stage at which bail is granted is different. Now, with what I read, I have not listened to the man and listened to his own side of the story. But from what I heard, if he is not guilty of murder, then, he is guilty of manslaughter. Or, at least, impersonation. Some of these offences are actually bail able. Releasing him on bail does not mean that is the end of the case. He must have been released to a reasonable and responsible surety who will produce him whenever his attention is needed.
“I know that the Attorney General under the Ministry of Justice doesn’t have a cell where somebody can be detained but if he is on bail and the matter is handed over to him for what is called legal advice to see whether he has a case to answer or not; and I am sure the legal advice would soon be out. This is a very sensitive matter,” he explained.
Also speaking in an exclusive interview with The Point, the Osun State Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, Adetoye Adedapo, noted that Oladiti must not be allowed to go scot-free, adding that doing so would be endangering more lives.
Adedapo said regulatory bodies needed to put more efforts, but stated that many efforts needed to be done by citizens who patronize quack doctors.
The NMA Chairman called on the people of the state to screen doctors and other health practitioners and ensure they are genuine and certified before handing their bodies to them for healthcare services.
While lamenting worsening quackery in the health sector, Adedapo said, “We still counsel the populace to always check, if you go to a hospital, it is your right to check and ask, who is the doctor in charge, who am I seeing, and the fellow could tell you, this is who I am. If the fellow could tell you who he is, his level of certification, what he does, his skills and the proficiency he has, so that you will be able to decide whether to submit your body for him to treat or not.
“The people have a lot of roles to play in fighting quackery. There are other agencies at the level of hospitals that have roles to play in registering medical facilities. But, I learned from a reliable source that this hospital being run by this man (Oladiti) was never registered by the regulatory body in the state.
“It should not be difficult identifying quack hospitals,” he added.
