…Doctor pleads not guilty
By Damilola Odunukan
The Enugu State Police Command has the Chief Medical Doctor, Dr Shedrach Obinna Ekeh, of Joe Foundation Hospital and Maternity, after the kidney of a 15-year-old Chidera Nnamdi disappeared during an appendectomy.
Chidera’s kidney was discovered to have been removed following a scan. Detectives of the Enugu State Command have since charged the medical doctor in court, alleging him of being a fraud, but Ekeh maintained his stance of being a qualified doctor, pleading not guilty.
According to a Nigerian who shared the incident on his Xspace, Dj SpoiltKid@spoiltkid, the victim’s father, Mr Nnamdi Francis had complained to the Enugu State Police following a recurrent complaint of pain in his chest by his son, Chidera, following an appendicitis surgery at Joe Foundation Hospital and Maternity, Iheaka in Igbo-Eze South Local Government Area of Enugu State.
DJ SPOILT KID said: “Chidera in 2022 took ill and his father conveyed him to Joe Foundation Hospital and Maternity for a medical check-up. On their arrival at the hospital, Dr Shedrach Obinna Ekeh, who is the owner and principal doctor at the hospital attended to the victim.
“Ekeh after examining Chidera, told Nnamdi that his son had developed appendicitis and the only solution was to conduct an appendicectomy to relieve Chidera of the pain.
“Nnamdi, trusting the expertise of Dr Ekeh obliged and accepted that the surgery be carried out on his son. Dr. Ekeh and his team performed the surgery on Chidera for eight hours.”
DJ SPOILT KID narrated the incident: “The operation lasted for solid eight hours amidst screams of agonized and excruciating pain from Nnamdi Chidera wafting through theatre room.
“Francis who couldn’t endure the disturbing shrill voice of his son dashed the door of the theatre room but was forcibly restrained by the nurses on duty. He was made to endure and hold in the pain of the agonized cries of his beloved son.
“After a while, a deathly silence followed, and he assumed his son had died. They later wheeled him out unconscious. They stayed there for a further two weeks while he recuperated and still paid through their nose to be discharged.
“Nnamdi Chidera continued to complain of chest pain regularly. Something he never did before. He wouldn’t undertake any physical and tasking activity to their great surprise because he used to push a wheelbarrow for pay in their local market.
“Francis took him back to Dr. Ekeh who couldn’t offer anything helpful. Francis then took him to another Hospital. The Doctor there was left shocked by what he saw. He immediately ordered a scan.
“The result showed that Chidera’s left kidney had gone missing. Mr Francis, distraught and shocked, did another scan in four different hospitals and they all returned the same result -the left kidney of his son was missing.
“According to Mr Nnamdi Francis, ‘the only natural and probable conclusion is that Dr. Ekeh illegally and without Mr Francis’ consent and knowledge removed the left kidney of Nnamdi Chidera during the operation he performed on his son in violation of the provision of section 48(1) of The National Health Act 2014 and section 22 of Trafficking in Person (Prohibition) Act 2015 which prohibit and criminalize removal of human organ without first obtaining the consent of the person.”
“Mr Nnamdi Francis on the 17th day of September 2024, proceeded to file a complaint with the Hon. Commissioner of Children, Gender Affairs and Social Development Enugu State who ensured that Dr. Ekeh was arrested by Nigeria Police. Mr Francis was deeply frustrated by the snail speed of investigation by police and increasingly concerned that this matter has yet to be charged to court.
“He also heard through grapevine that the Police are leaning towards releasing Dr Eke and exonerating him of all wrongdoings despite overwhelmingly cogent and compelling evidence to the contrary as Chidera Francis continued to suffer and complain of excruciating pain for the past two years.
“On 12/11/2024, Mr Nnamdi Francis was summoned to Enugu by the police for a meeting with the Commissioner of Police. This has increasingly become normal. The Investigating Police Officer will call them on the phone to come to Enugu for a meeting with the commissioner of police the following day.
“Mr Francis was surprised when he and his son were taken to Magistrate court Enugu where Dr Shadrach Obinna Ekeh was arraigned for Practising Medicine Without License. He was confused and shocked and was straining at his seat raising his hand to draw the attention of the magistrate to no avail.
“The complaint he lodged with the police is the illegal removal of his son’s kidney and not this. He was not even cited as the nominal complainant. After the charge was read to him, he pleaded not guilty and he was immediately.
“However, the incessant cries from the theatre room during the surgery made Nnamdi Francis reach for the theatre but was restrained by nurses. Nnamdi, who felt helpless and could barely do much to save his son, resorted to fate and waited for the surgery to end.
“A few hours after the surgery, Chidera was wheeled out of the theatre unconscious and Nnamdi had thought that his son was no more. He was at the hospital with his son for two more weeks before he was discharged by the hospital management.
“Despite the surgery, Chidera complained of pains, but this time on his chest, which was not part of the previous case that took him to the hospital.
“Nnamdi went back to Dr Ekeh for further examination, but the doctor could render no help; this made him seek help in other hospitals, where it was confirmed that his son’s left kidney was missing.
“To further confirm the claims of the hospital, Nnamdi took his son to four other Laboratories for Scan, where the results confirmed similar results.
“On September 17, 2024, Francis Nnamdi filed a complaint to the Commissioner of Children, Gender Affairs and Social Development, Enugu State who later summoned Dr Ekeh for probes.
“The Enugu State Police Division, however, turned the tide toward Nnamdi Francis, who was invited to the office of the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State thereafter. After a series of visits to the police station without positive results, Nnamdi was hinted by an undisclosed source that the Police were leaning towards Dr Ekeh.
“Meanwhile, on November 12, Francis Nnamdi was invited to the office of the Commissioner of Police for a meeting with the Commissioner, which was already becoming a norm according to the reports.
“Francis Nnamdi and his son Chidera were later charged to the Enugu State Magistrate Court, where Dr Ekeh was arraigned for practising medicine without a licence.
“This was a surprise to Francis Nnamdi as the only complaint he had lodged to the Court was the illegal removal of his son’s left kidney while being ignored as the bona fide complainant. Dr Ekeh, on the other hand, pleaded not guilty to the charges read against him.”
