Photo: Sun News Publishing

More Stories on This Section

The bubble has burst for two fake medical doctors, Phat Agha of New Life Hospital and John Odumukwu of Divine Light Clinic Annex after a failed caesarian operation that allegedly led to the death of a teenage single mother, Miss Onyemachi Onwuloro. The two are now cooling their heels at the Police Zone 9 headquarters in Umuahia, Abia State.

The Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 9, Olusegun Efuntayo, said in Umuahia that his men from the anti-human trafficking section of the zonal headquarters on October 10 burst the illegal partnership of the alleged fake doctors at the Nkwoala market square, Eziama Ngor Okpala in Imo State. They were later arrested separately.

His words: “Following a tip-off, officers from Zone 9 Police headquarters attached to the anti-human trafficking section, on October 28, 2008, arrested one ‘Dr.’ Phat Agha and ‘Dr.’ John Odumukwu of Ngor Okpala in Imo State for operating illegal hospitals named New Life Amala and Divine Light Hospital complex respectively at Nkwoala market square, Eziama Ngor Okpala Local Government of Imo State.”

According to the AIG, the two fake doctors had confessed to the murder of one Miss Onyemachi Onwuloro of Umahia Okpuala in Ngor Okpala after an unsuccessful caesarian operation.
The AIG was angry that the two suspects had been in the illegal business for over 15 years without acquiring any medical qualification.

Speaking to Daily Sun, Agha, 43, confessed that he had no formal medical education at any level and had conducted the caesarian operation on the late 17-year-old Miss Onwuloro.
Fake doctor Agha said his only access to medical knowledge was gained when he was a theatre attendant in a German clinic in Lagos, where he had watched medical doctors perform surgery.

Agha insisted that surgery was a talent that does not necessarily require formal education, boasting that for the many years he had practiced as a doctor, his performance was better than that of trained doctors.
He claimed to have successfully carried out several surgeries covering appendectomy, caesarian sections and fibroid in his over 10 years of practice.
He also told Daily Sun that already he had sat for the GCE and obtained credits in the required science subjects to study Medicine in the university.

His words: “Yes, I have been in this business for over 10 years. Now, I have my GCE result and I want to go to the university to study Medicine. I am a doctor, but not in the sense that I have a certificate. I want the police to close down my hospital pending the time I get my certificates.”
‘Dr.’ Agha’s arrest followed the death of a patient referred to his hospital by “a colleague” five months ago for a caesarian section.

According to him, the operation was successful, but for the relations of the deceased who failed to provide pints of blood required by her and she finally gave up the ghost as a result of anemia.
His words: “Three days after the surgery, I asked the relations to bring some pints of blood for her to survive because after caesarian operation, the patient must be transfused for her to survive, but they did not comply.

“The patient died after five days, not because the caesarian operation failed, but due to cardio respiratory attack due to gross anemia,” he claimed.
The Oguta-born fake doctor conceded that his practice was illegal, because he lacked the requisite academic qualification, but not that he was inefficient.
But his accomplice, John Odumukwu who referred the deceased from his hospital to Agha, claimed to be a qualified homeopathic doctor trained at Pan African College of the Homeopathic Medicine, Osemote Oguta in Imo State.

Explaining his link to Agha, he said the teenage mother was brought to him by her relations while in labour, but when complications developed, he transferred her to Agha’s New Life Hospital.
Odumukwu said it was not the first time he was transferring complicated cases to ‘Dr.’ Agha, whose competence he vouched for. He added that Agha had handled many cases in the past successfully.
Odumukwu, however, said he never knew Agha was not a trained medical doctor.
Odumukwu who hails from Nkwoegwu Umuahia, Abia State and has his practice in Imo State said: “I am a homeopathic doctor and I carry out child deliveries in my clinic, but when any complication arises, I transfer them to ‘Dr.’ Agha.