39-year-old dropout owned a clinic at Mushin, Lagos state

The Lagos state police command has arrested a 39-year-old fake medical practitioner, Abdulrahman Mohammed, for allegedly owning a clinic and practicing medicine for four years without any license. Mohammed, who dropped out of primary school, reportedly has a clinic in Idi-Araba area, Mushin, Lagos state where he administered intravenous injections to patients and prescribe drugs for ailments, The Punch reports. The Lagos state commissioner of police, Edgal Imohimi, while parading the suspect on Monday, said: “On April 14, around 12am, detectives from the Area D Command, Mushin, arrested a native of Ran village, in the Gamboru Ngala local government area of Borno state, for operating as a medical doctor whereas his education stopped at primary school level, even though there is no certificate to authenticate that claim. “Further investigations into the activities of Mohammed, who had been impersonating a medical doctor for the past four years, revealed that he had been administering intravenous injections, conducting medical tests on his patients and taking their urine and blood samples. “The suspect confessed that he bought his drugs from Idumota Market. Exhibits recovered from him include blood pressure monitors – manual and electronic – syringes, drip packs both saline and sugar solutions, among others. The suspect will be charged to court as soon as investigation is over.”

Mohammed, however denied practicing medicine and claimed he was only a chemist who prescribed drug for people. He said: “I stopped school after primary six. I started selling drug and injections in 2014, but I don’t give people injections or drips. Some people came to check their blood pressure. If a customer says he has a headache, I can sell Panadol to him. I buy my drugs at Idumota. Nurses come to buy from me.” Admitting that he prescribed the drugs by merely guessing, he also said he couldn't tell the exact number of patients he had catered to, stating that sometimes the drugs worked and other times it may have harmed them. The Imo-state indigene who ran a drugstore at Seriki Aro street, Ikeja, Lagos, confessed after he was arrested, and some of his drugs were picked as exhibits.

By Mercy Kukah