Over seven more ex-patients who underwent surgical operations at Murna hospital have come forward to claim that their kidneys were harvested by the operator of the clinic, Mr Noah Kekere.
One Alhaji Jamilu Baba, chairman of Yanshanu Community Development Association during an interview with Tribune disclosed that all those who had one form of surgical operation or the other at the clinic in the past had been directed to go for tests to confirm the state of their kidneys.
Alhaji Baba said that so far, no fewer than seven people, males and females, have been discovered to have one kidney each with the other missing. He added that other people were still in the process of going for scans based on the report before the community.
“It may interest you that those who went for scans are complaining of the same thing. At the moment, about seven have claimed that only one kidney was found in their bodies after scans. All of them had, at different times, had surgical operations performed on them by the so-called doctor at Murna Clinic
“The hospital is called Murna Clinic owned by one man called Dr Noah Kekere, popularly known as Dr Yellow. He has been in this community for over 18 years. The people of this community trusted him and patronised him whenever they were not feeling well.
“But to our great surprise, we learned of his involvement in this unfortunate incident that he operated on a woman about seven years ago when she had an appendicitis. Unfortunately, after the operation, the woman was still complaining of stomach pain. Kekere has been managing her and collecting money from the family.
“After much complaining without any improvement, the husband told her wife to try Jos University Teaching Hospital, where it was discovered after a scan that she had one kidney; that the other one was missing.
“The report came to us and to the entire community as a shock. This man has betrayed the trust the community has in him. I cannot count the number of people in this community that this man has operated on. This incident has caused confusion in the community. Those he had operated on at one time or another are now jittery. We have been advising people that have been coming to us to go for tests at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) and other certified hospitals.
“We are having a community meeting on Saturday (today) to discuss this issue thoroughly and tell other people who have undergone one form of operation or the other there to go for scans.
“The matter has been reported to the DPO in charge of this area and he has transferred the case to the state police headquarters. According to police investigation, the man has confessed that he removed the kidney of that woman (Mrs Kehinde Kamaru), saying that it was the work of the devil. Because of the damage he has done to our community, we petitioned the state Commissioner of Police, asking him to conduct a thorough investigation.
“The community has been so nice to him, but unfortunately, this is how he rewarded us. He had been presenting himself as a qualified medical doctor to the people, but he is not. Police investigation revealed that he has a BSc and a Master’s degree in Economics. We were told that he went to a nursing school but abandoned his programme along the way. He has done a lot of damage to our people.”
Alhaji Baba therefore called on the police to extend their investigation beyond the woman whose case exposed the fake doctor. He emphasised the need to get to the root of the matter to deter others engaging in such a dubious act,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Plateau State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association—NMA, has distanced itself from Mr Noah Kekere, who has been in police custody.
NewsBand reports that the suspect was arrested by the police in Jos after a businessman, Alhaji Kamal, accused him of removing his wife’s kidney during surgery in 2018.
Kamal said his wife (Kehinde) was suffering from chronic stomach pains five years ago and was rushed to Kekere’s clinic located in the Nasarawa Gwom area of Jos North Local Government Area of the State, where he diagnosed and concluded that she had ruptured appendicitis and needed urgent surgery.
According to him, “The day the doctor conducted the operation, he started the operation from 12 noon until 8 pm, and for the past five years, my wife kept complaining of severe stomach pains. I continued to take her to the same hospital because I did not want to change the doctor that started her treatment.”
But reacting to the incident, the chairman of NMA in the state, Dr Bapigaan William Audu, and the spokesman of the medical association, Dr. Istifanus Bintum Bako, said in a press statement that, upon its investigation into the matter, Kekere is not a medical doctor.
Part of the statement reads, “This is to inform the public and all concerned that Mr Noah Kekere, who is currently being investigated over the allegations of organ harvesting, is not a medical doctor.
“Diligent investigations by the association have revealed that he is a quack pretending to be a doctor. Further information will be made available following the conclusion of the investigative processes initiated by the NMA as well as the Nigerian Police, respectively