MDCN uncovers fake doctor in Gombe private hospital

Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria Assistant Registrar Dr. Henry Okwuokenye says it’s has uncovered a fake medical doctor in Gombe.

According to him, the council has a committee on medical quackery that upon their inauguration were made to visit to ascertain the veracity of the information.

He disclosed this while briefing journalists in Gombe, over the fake medical practitioner Edesili Vincent Ehikioya,
was allegedly reported to the council by his employer.

Prior to his arrest by police operatives, upon investigation by the council, the fake doctor was providing services to clients in a private hospital in the metropolis.

Okwuokenye said, “We had a tip off that someone is working here with documents that are not likely to belong to him. That is why we came with the director of medical services of the state. Fortunately, or unfortunately, when we arrived here the doctor was on duty. So, we started some sort of interactions with him and the process gave the fact that truly, he (fake doctor) was not the owner of the document.”

 Okwuokenye revealed that the council had completed investigation, stressing that its has the data of all doctors in Nigeria.

“Whether you are trained in Nigeria or outside the country as long as you have to practice here the council will license you to function is part of our mandate. We have a robust data for all doctors across the country. We can tell across the country, so we can tell that the document is cloned from another person’s document,” the Assistant Registrar said.

Lamenting on how previous investigations handed to the police had gone unresolved, Okwuokenye said they were going to allow the security operatives conclude findings, urging private health facilities to do due diligence before recruiting staff.

According to him, “For owners of private hospitals before you recruit a doctor you must verify the document. We have eyes everywhere in the country, if they must forge document they must stay away from medical practice. Removing people like this helps the health sector.”