Meet Benue man who castrated himself

Regardless of anyone’s opinion about him, Terhemen Anongo, 44, popularly called, ‘Doc K’ or ‘Bob Korna’ in the Gboko area of Benue State, feels good about his decision to sever his testicles. 

Anongo, in an interview with our correspondent in Makurdi, said he severed his testicles to avert sexual urge, noting that his decision would enable him serve God properly.

 He made news in March 2021 after he removed the first testis in a surgery he personally undertook, which resulted in profuse bleeding that almost ended his life.

 It was gathered that the timely intervention of those who knew about his plight saved his life as medical practitioners rallied around to give him the desired attention.

 However, Anongo, penultimate Monday, finally cut off the second testis, insisting he wanted to serve God without any form of distraction from the opposite sex.

 He had earlier dropped out of medical school in his fifth year and later turned a wheelbarrow pusher in Gboko before his latest action brought him into public glare last year.

 “I went to the University of Ibadan during the 1996/97 session, and by 2000 I passed to the teaching hospital, University College Hospital (UCH), but I dropped out when I was in 500-level because I was suffering from severe depression. I lost interest in medical school. However, at a point I tried to go back but the authorities did not allow me,” he recounted.

The 44-year-old man narrated how he is surviving and coping with his new life.

 “I removed it on January 10. The first one had little hitches, but I did this one well, having learnt from that experience. Somebody is always coming to dress it for me.

 “I am fine. There was a little infection but it has been taken care of. It is not something that affects me in anyway. I walk and go around to do things.

 “I was working in the monitoring team of a transport company called Flight, but they sort of changed their condition of service, so I left. I had to find something else doing before I did the surgery. Until the wounds heal I would have to know my next line of action. 

“At the moment, I survive through the goodwill of friends. My sisters have also been sending me some things. I had also bought some foodstuff in the house, so I cook. 

“I paid people in the hospital and they have been providing medication,” he said.

 On why he took the decision to remove his testes, Anongo replied, “That’s the question I like reasonable people to ask. I come from a very religious home. And when I was in Government College, Makurdi, I was a very religious person. I focused on my studies and got the best result. I went to the University in Ibadan, but while I was in the medical school, I came home and came across one man of God called Gbile Akanni and he actually inspired me to take God’s word very seriously. 

 “I wanted to practise it the way God wanted, but I was having a problem with sexual urge. It was not something I could control, so I read the scripture, where the disciples of Jesus asked about the condition for a man to divorce his wife and he told them that there was no acceptable condition, except adultery. 

 “It was in the scripture that I understand that the woman was taken out of the man, so the woman is part of the man’s body. And Apostle Paul in the bible said that no one hates his body. Any man who actually hates his wife hates his own body. So the tie that connects the man to the woman is very strong,” he said. 

 He continued, “Some people are born eunuchs, so they don’t have interest in women while some are made eunuchs by men, like the Ethiopian eunuch in the book of Acts. The third category is about those who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of God. They want to focus on God. 

“I read the history of the early Christians and found out that there was a man called Oregon at Armateus who actually took out his testes so that he would not have the situation of hypocrisy. 

“I don’t desire to marry, but I don’t see marriage as a bad thing. The reason I desire not to marry is that I am a disciple of Paul, who wrote that it is good to marry but it is best to remain single because a single man or woman has the opportunity to devote 100 per cent of his energy to God. He wished that everybody would be like him. Ultimately for me, I am very politically conscious.”

   Doc K hails from Tarka Local Government Area of the state but resident in Gboko, where he pushed wheelbarrow as a means of livelihood until some of his school colleagues intervened after the media brought his plight to public domain.

 He told our correspondent that his next line of action after recovery from the surgery would be to set up a provision store while also preaching the gospel to win souls into God’s kingdom and remaining a member of the Catholic Church, where he presently worships.

 “My colleagues in Ibadan actually asked what I wanted to do. There are some shops in my house, so I want to set up a provision/chemist shop. They said I should send them an estimate within the region of a million naira. That’s what I have done,” he further said.

 On whether he would go back to school to realise his dream of becoming a medical doctor, he said, “I don’t have plans to go back to school. I am no longer interested. I don’t want to go to school and depend on anybody. I want a system where I can get a loan and go to school while working. 

“I would like to go school and do theology, something about church history. Those are the things that will interest me. But here (Nigeria), everything is very difficult. For now, I focus on what will bring me my daily bread. I teach people the bible and wouldn’t want to leave those things.

 “I didn’t want to be a medical doctor initially, but when I got in I saw that you could do a lot of good as a doctor. And the medical environment in Ibadan did not encourage religious development. 

 “After secondary school I wanted to read Petroleum Engineering, but my dad, who was a Mathematics teacher, refused, saying he had some Indian teachers who told him that the best course for me was Medicine. When I got to medical school I realised that medicine was about cramming and memorising terminologies you don’t know their origin. I lost interest, but of course, I managed to pass and got to the teaching hospital.

“The academic there was not friendly, and coupled with my depression, I just left school.

“I actually tried to go back to take another course, such as Psychology, but they refused. I tried other schools like the University of Maiduguri and Benue State University, but they all refused. “

Anongo advised people who would want to be like him not to take matters into their hands, saying it is dangerous for a man to castrate himself.

 He said, “I come from a medical line, that’s why I could do mine. Even at that, the first episode was a problem, so in the second one I was more careful. I almost lost my life during the first surgery, but I don’t regret doing it as nobody was willing to do it for me. If anybody is interested, he should look for a physician who will do it in a safe and hygienic environment. For me, it is a commendable thing to do because we are living in a sexually perverse world.”

 Daily Trust on Sunday learnt that when he returned from school, Doc K blamed his predicament on members of his immediate family, who were later forced to abandon their late father’s house at GRA in Gboko for him following his hostility towards them.

 Described by many as physically fit, energetic, highly articulate, intelligent and easygoing, his admirers say he deserves to live a better life than being a truck pusher, from which he has, however, been rescued.