A Magistrate Court sitting in Sagamu, Ogun State has sentenced a fake doctor, Patrick Adebanjo, to one year imprisonment for impersonation.
The suspect, who claimed to have graduated from the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu, in 2003, was convicted by Magistrate Sola Adebayo-Alebiosu to one year jail term without option of fine.
Police had arraigned Adebanjo after he carried out a surgery on a pregnant woman who had lost her baby in a hospital where he worked as a medical doctor.
The convict was arrested following a petition written by members of the Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGPMPN), Ogun state chapter against him over his unprofessional conduct.
The Investigating Police Officer, Inspector Folohunsho Gbenga, had told the court that his investigation revealed that the convict had been parading himself as a medical practitioner and performing surgery on unsuspecting members of the public.
He explained that after receiving a petition from the AGPMPN against the convict, he lured him by pretending to be a patient who needed a medical treatment before he was arrested.
The IPO said when the police searched the house of the convict in Ijebu-Ode, some medical instrument such as medical scrub; theatre uniform; sodium chloride; a bag of medical instrument; stethoscope and OOUTH identity card among others were found.
The convict pleaded not guilty to a one count charge of impersonation proffered against him.
During the trial, six witnesses testified against him.
Delivering his judgment he Magistrate held that the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt.
“The defendant indeed did impersonate and his intention was to defraud, hence, the misrepresentation, I therefore find the defendant guilty of the sole count. The convict without having the required knowledge to practice as a doctor, carried on practice as a medical practitioner, thereby, endangering the lives of the citizens”, the Magistrate held.
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