by Adeola Balogun

 A man who had claimed to be a doctor has been arraigned in Abia State for alleged impersonation and forgery.

Peter Ifeanyichukwu, who had previously been employed as a medical practitioner by the Seventh Day Adventist Hospital, Ogbor Hill in Aba, the state capital, has been taken before a Chief Magistrate Court in Osisioma Local Government Area of the state.

The suspect is being tried for alleged impersonation and illegal possession of a fake MBBS certificate. Police prosecutor Victor Mbama said the offences are punishable under Section 467 and 484 of the Criminal Code Act.

Mbama reportedly urged that the suspect should be remanded in custody because he could jump bail. The magistrate, however, ordered that Ifeanyichukwu be remanded in the Aba Federal Prison till Friday. It was gathered that the accused worked at Living Word Hospital.

Ifeanyichukwu had before now claimed that he was a student of the School of Health, Aba and worked in various clinics and hospitals.

Narrating how the suspect was arrested, the Chairman, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Aba zone, Dr. U.N Onwuchekwa, said: “He was arrested after Dr. Anaele Agu alerted the NMA at a conference, for doctors in Aba, where he (Ifeanyichukwu) introduced himself as a doctor and a representative of the chief medical director of Seventh Day Adventist Hospital.

“Initially, he told us he was a graduate of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT). We also asked him some other questions which he couldn’t answer.

“It was at that time that we had to invite the police. When the police interrogated him further, he admitted he was a fake doctor.

“Upon his confessional statement, a house search was conducted. During the search, a blank MBBS certificate bearing the logo of the University of Port Harcourt’s Medical School was found in his house.”

When our reporter visited Living Word Hospital, a source said Ifeanyichukwu was never employed there.

He said: “Ifeanyichukwu did not stay up to a week in our hospital. He presented an affidavit in which he claimed that he lost his results and other documents after he finished his youth service.
“After the oral interview, the panel gave him one week to bring his practicing licence which is renewable every year and until now, he has not come back.

“Our policy in this hospital is that before any doctor is employed, he must present all the documents.”