A Yola High Court has sentenced a fake medical doctor, Ibrahim Mustapha, to 54 years in prison.
Mustapha operated illegally as a PMO in Fufore Cottage hospital, Fufore local government area of Adamawa state.
Justice Nathan Musa gave the ruling Monday December 9, following an earlier plea of guilt by Mustapha.
Justice Nathan said the court had considered a plea of allocotus made by the convict’s counsel and therefore sentenced him on nine count charges.
“On counts one to three, I sentenced him six months each with the option of fine of N20,000 each”, he stated.
“On count eight, I sentence him to three years imprisonment with the option of N50,000 fine. On counts four, five, six, seven and 10, I sentenced him to 10 years of prison term on each of the counts without the option of a fine.”
He said that all the terms will run concurrently.
The convict has been in the DSS custody since June this year for operating patients facility without a valid document. He is said to have performed over 500 surgical operations causing the death of about 46 patients from January to May 2019
DSS Director in the state, Bola Olori, said a preliminary investigation revealed that Mustapha holds National Board of Technical Education (NBTE) certificate, an equivalent of Senior Secondary School certificate or High School.
The fake surgeon confessed to forging MBBS credentials according to the DSS but denied causing the death of any patient throughout his career until his arrest.
“Yes, I’ve forged the documents as stated by the DSS boss and also done both major and minor surgical operations, including caesarian section, altogether more than 500 surgeries without causing the death of any of my patients as claimed.”
But the DSS said, “He perfected the illicit act in Gombe where he worked as a ward attendant in several clinics. He was aided by a practicing doctor who gave him sample copies of his NECO results, MBBS of Bayero University Kano, NYSC Discharge certificate and Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, annual registration license. The suspect subsequently gained employment into the Adamawa state Hospital Management Board in October 2015 as a doctor and rose to the post of PMO, serving at both the Cottage hospital Mayo-Belwa and Fufore.”
Mustapha ran out of luck when he attended visa interview as a potential medical team member for the 2019 hajj operations.
He was exposed by a man who knew him in Gombe as a ward attendant in an undisclosed clinic.