Fake Medical Laboratory Scientist Sent To Jail

One Mr Peter Chukwuemeka Okafor, a fake Medical laboratory Scientist has been convicted by a magistrate court (Court 1) in Agbor, Delta State.

The accused was consequently sentenced to six months in prison without an option of fine for impersonating a Medical Laboratory Scientist, Mr Koru Kere Cletus.

In a statement made available to LEADERSHIP in Abuja, the Medical Laboratory Council of Nigeria (MLSCN), noted that while commenting on the court verdict, the Registrar/CEO of the council, Prof Anthony Emeribe described the judgment of the court as a victory for Nigerians who have been clamouring for sanity in the medical laboratory services sector.

He said, “Regrettably, these mindless quacks have been using unsuspecting patients as guinea pigs. It is another milestone in the council’s quest to eradicate quackery in the profession.”

Emeribe noted that with the victory, nefarious elements in the sector must be aware that it is no longer business as usual, and that they’ve no hiding place.

He reassured that the Council will not relent in its efforts to ensure that Nigerian patients receive only accurate and reliable test results when they submit themselves to laboratory investigations. ‘Only well trained personnel, recognized by Council are authorized to practice as medical lab scientists in the country. Those who attempt to do so without Council approval are making mockery of the law and endangering the lives of the citizens, and we won’t tolerate that,’ he said, promising that Council will continue to work towards the actualization of its mandate as enunciated in Act 11, 2003.

Narrating the journey to Okafor’s conviction Emeribe recalled that it was during one of the periodic inspection and monitoring exercise by Council’s South – South Zonal Office Benin, in conjunction with Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) Delta State Branch, that it’s team approached one Mrs Patience Uti for verification of her documents only to discover that the 2012 practicing license presented by the addressee bearing the name Koru Kere Cletus was not the same as Peter Okafor that owns the laboratory under inspection.

Besides the difference of names on the license, it was also discovered that it was signed by Mrs E. U Okonkwo who retired in 2010 making the authenticity questionable.

According to Emeribe, the culprit was apprehended following a written complaint forwarded by the Council to the Commissioner of Police, Delta state on the matter. Okafor was subsequently charged to the court for forgery and impersonation.

While the accused was discharged and acquitted for lack of evidence on the 1st count charge, he was found culpable on the 2nd count charge of impersonating a Medical Scientist, Mr Koru Kere Cletus. One of the Prosecution witnesses, Mrs Patience Uti had earlier told the court that she had known the accused as Mr Koru Kere Cletus for the past three years not knowing that his name is Mr Peter Okafor. The accused has a Higher National Diploma (HND) qualification in Business Administration, a course that has no relationship with Medical Laboratory Science. He was sentenced to six months imprisonment without an option of fine to serve as a deterrent to others who think they can just wake up one day and start collecting specimen from innocent citizens while pretending to be Medical Lab Scientists.

It will be recalled that the Council set up a national taskforce on inspection in 2014 which closed 15 laboratories on its first assignment in FCT.