Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

The Rivers State Ministry of Health has sealed six medical facilities in the state allegedly managed by unprofessional health workers and also used for alleged child trafficking.

Speaking with journalists in Port Harcourt alongside his Anti-quackery Committee members, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Vincent Wachukwu, said seven persons were arrested during a visit and investigation of the facilities.

Wachukwu said the exercise is a continuation of the anti-quackery mandate of the Rivers State Ministry of Health, the state branch of the Nigerian Medical Association, and other healthcare affiliate associations in the fight against quackery across the state.

The permanent secretary explained that in their activities, they are trying to sanitise the health system in Rivers State, revealing that: “This fight has been on for the past two years and some months, and we have made some very significant progress.

“We have seen a whole lot of hospitals and diagnostic centres. We have also tried, and then we have arrested some of the operators of these facilities who are currently undergoing investigation and prosecution.”

Wachukwu, who explained that the fight against quackery is strenuous, said: “As you fight, they fight back. It’s just like corruption. You fight corruption, corruption fights back. That is what is happening in the health sector. But by God’s grace, with your (media) support, I believe we are winning the war.”

He disclosed that the anti-quackery committee embarked on some activities to identify and deal with some of the unwholesome practitioners in the state, saying that they are not just concerned about what is happening in Port Harcourt, but what is happening in the state as far as the health sector is concerned.

Speaking on the sealed facilities, Wachukwu said: “We have gone round different local government areas, even outside Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor, and a few health facilities have been sealed. They are not being sealed just because they are not registered, but because of their quack practices. Some of them are identified by whistleblowers.

“Some are identified by neighbours who come to the ministry to report unwholesome activities going on in these facilities. And when you go further, you discover that most of these facilities are run by untrained and non-accredited medical practitioners.”

He mentioned the sealed facilities to include PLARIV Hospital in Omoku; Good Shepherd Hospital (Omoku); Blessed Good News Clinic in Port Harcourt; Estate Clinic in Oklahoma Estate, Obio/Akpor; Patent Drug Shop in Ndele, Emohua; and Eldona Hospital, Elekahia in Obio/Akpor LGA.

A team of police recently invaded the Eldona Hospital in Elekahia, where the proprietor of the facility, alongside other workers, was arrested for child trafficking and also operating without registration.

During the briefing, Wachukwu revealed that a 20-year-old female secondary school graduate died from quack medication in a patent drug Shop in Emohua.

“We also visited one patent drug store in Ndele. This one is a very serious case because the operator of that place is not trained, and then a 20-year-old girl who just finished secondary school and is awaiting admission becomes a victim.

“Now, unsuspecting or just seeing the place as a medical centre, she went in,n and then the woman injected her and she died. And then the report came to us, we went there, sealed the place, and arrested the people who were seen in the facility. But the operator was not around when we got there. We asked the people of the community to bring her.

“They have been calling, but we are not going to relent. We will ensure that she is arrested and prosecuted for committing a crime (like murder), and I wouldn’t know if I am right, but that is what she has done,” he said.

The permanent secretary reiterated that every organisaton, hospital, corporate body, NGO, religious body, and individual that wishes to carry out free medical outreaches in the state must obtain permission and approval from the ministry before embarking on such.

He, however, thanked his committee members, the security agencies, especially the Nigerian Police and Civil Defence, and the media for their unwavering support towards the fight against quackery in the state.