Nigeria’s health system has had its own peculiar challenges over the decades
But hospitals becoming a centre for harvesting organs of patients is not a story you get to hear often.
That is what the police in Jos, Plateau state have been trying to unravel after the arrest of one Noah Kekere, who has been operating a maternity clinic for years until a woman who went in for surgery lost one of her kidneys.
It’s a story that has left many angered and scared, puncturing the trust of some in the healthcare system.
It all began in 2018 when a businessman resident in Jos, Busari Kamal, brought his wife to a hospital known as Murna Clinic and Maternity located in Yanshanu, Jos North Council area of Plateau State.
Noah Kekere, the owner of the hospital, who has been carrying out medical treatments including surgeries for two decades, diagnosed and concluded that the patient, Kayinde Kamal, had ruptured appendicitis and needed urgent surgery which was immediately carried out by him.
Five years after the surgery, her situation got worse with chronic stomach pains and She was taken to the Jos University Teaching Hospital for a medical examination where it was discovered that her right kidney had been removed.
In an interview with AIT, Kahinde Kamal narrates her ordeal.
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Kahinde’s husband Busari Kamal later reported the matter to the Nassarawa Police station which led to the arrest of Noah Kekere for alleged kidney theft.
Providing an update on the case, the Plateau State Police Command has confirmed the arrest of two other doctors who worked in the clinic along with the prime suspect and owner of the clinic Noah Kekere.
Faced with credibility crisis over the development, the Nigerian Medical Association NMA Jos chapter, quickly came out to dissociate itself from Noah Kekere, saying he is not their member
Speaking exclusively to AIT, the husband of the victim Busari Kamal, said he wants the world to be wary of the clinics they chose.
The development has left many in a state of shock and distrust.
AIT’s request for an interview with the main suspects was not granted as the police insisted he is still under investigation. But until he is charged to court, prosecuted and convicted, Kekere and the suspects arrested along with him are still presumed innocent before the law.
(Editor: Nkoli Omhoudu)
