Anambra State Government has arrested two fake Medical Doctors and sealed off their illegal hospitals at Alor in Idemili South Local Government Area and Adazi-Enu in Anaocha Local Government Areas of the state.
The two suspects are Anayo Okwara of Bright Land Hospital and Maternity Limited and Igwe Ogbonna of Favour of God Hospital and Maternity operating illegally in the state.
Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Obidike warned those operating illegally and parading themselves as medical doctors to close down their hospitals or face the full wrath of the law.
Dr. Obidike said that Gov. Charles Soludo’s administration will not relent in its effort to flush out fake doctors and those operating illegally across the state.
According to him, the objective of the exercise is not to witch hunt anyone but rather to ensure standards both in Government and Private Hospitals in the state.
The arrest which was led by the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Obidike was accompanied by some security men, as well as the members of the Anambra Joint Enforcement Team (ANJET) led by its State Coordinator, Air Vice Marshall Ben Chiobi (Retired) who was represented by the Director of Operations of the team, Mazi Chukwuma Okpalezeukwu.
Okwara was arrested by Alor Vigilante men; Ogbonna was arrested by the Commissioner and his team.
Dr. Obidike noted that the ministry has already closed down five hospitals for operating illegally and being run by quacks.
He appreciated the immediate past and current Presidents General of Alor Community for their hard work which resulted in the success of the exercise.
The Commissioner insisted that Anambra is not a place for quacks to practice and noted that they are determined to eliminate quackery in the state.
He regretted that death is an irreversible course and reflected on why people who are not medical practitioners would continue to waste people’s lives because of greed and the quest to make money through illegal means.
Dr. Obidike urged Anambra State citizens to be vigilant and equally called on various Communities in the state to emulate what the Alor community has done by monitoring what is going on in their various communities.
He commended Governor Chukwuma Soludo for giving them all the necessary support they desire in executing the assignment and said that the suspects will be charged to the law court for them to answer for their crimes.
The President General of Alor Peoples Convention, Chief Emmanuel Ojukwu told the Voice of Nigeria that after many complaints and incessant deaths at Bright Land Hospital Limited, they had a course to query Mr. Okwara’s medical claims and discovered that all his certificates were forged, hence their letter to the state ministry of health and thanked Dr. Obidike for his timely response.
Okwara claimed that he is a homeopathic doctor but agreed that his certificates were forged when grilled by the Commissioner, Dr. Obidike.
Igwe Ogbonna of Favour of God Hospital and Maternity, who operates in Alor and Adazi-Enu Communities, is not even a doctor or has any medical knowledge, but he also used his facility at Adazi-Enu community as a hospital and a nursing school, where students paid as much as seventy to hundred thousand naira to study nursing without any teacher, except himself, as confirmed by some students nurses met at the facility.
Anambra State Director of Medical Services, Dr. Ugochukwu Chukwulobelu was also present during the exercise.
Dominica Nwabufo
