NMA excited by four years jail term on notorious ‘fake doctor’ Martins Ugwu

By Oluwafunke Ishola

A 54-year-old notorious fake medical doctor, Martins Ugwu, who impersonated and used the medical certificate of his ‘best man’ to secure employment has been sentenced to four years and two months imprisonment about eight years after he was arrested.

Martins Ugwu used the fake certificates to get employment in the Federal Civil Service in 2006 and rose to a senior position and was one of the labour leaders in the Federal Ministry of Health before he was found out in 2015.

Justice Abubakar Kutigi of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Jabi, pronounced the sentence in a ruling on Tuesday.

The judge ordered Ugwu to refund N17.2 million, which he received as salaries during his fraudulent service.

Justice Kutigi held that should Ugwu be unable to repay the money, he should be made to serve an additional one year in jail.

Ugwu, was prosecuted by the ICPC over allegations of impersonating a certain Dr. George Daniel Davidson, to gain employment into the Federal Civil Service (FCS).

ICPC, in February 2016, filed a 7-count charge before Justice Abubakar Idris Kutigi, against Martins Ugwu, for allegedly making false statement to the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, through which he secured employment into the Federal Ministry of Health, in 2006.

The Commission said his alleged offence contravened Section 25 (1) (a) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Act, 2000 and punishable under Section 25 (1) (b) of the same act.

He was alleged to have drawn salaries and allowances up to N17.2 million between 2006 and 2016, after working for about ten years as a medical doctor at the Federal Ministry of Health with the fake documents.

Ugwu further allegedly used the fake documents to procure a staff identity card bearing the name of Dr. George Daniel Davidson, apply for annual leave as well as a post graduate training programme which would have conferred on him, a Masters degree in the Field of Epidemiology Practice.

Reacting to the sentencing, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) said the conviction of the ‘fake doctor’ will strengthen the association’s work against medical quackery.

Its first Vice-President, Dr Benjamin Olowojebutu, said this in an interview on Thursday in Lagos.

Olowojebutu said the NMA was elated at the conviction of the fake doctor, noting that it served as a strong warning to those practising without a licence or impersonating a medical professional.

He said, “The hand of the law would catch up with them soon.

“To see a man that has practised medicine as a doctor for many years, and the hand of the law eventually catches up with him.

“We know that this will send a strong message to other culprits in those communities and would strengthen the work we are doing at NMA.

“We appreciate the judiciary for this particular one. And we hope that when other cases come to them, they can expedite this kind of action quickly,” he said.

According to him, the judgment is a testament that NMA’s cohesion with the government is yielding fruits in reducing medical quackery and sanitising the medical profession.

The NMA leader noted that the issue of quack doctors was assuming a troubling dimension in the country, noting its prevalence had shifted from rural communities to urban communities.

Olowojebutu said medical quackery had a devastating impact on individuals, families and communities, causing deformities, incapacitation, life-threatening conditions, and even death.

He reiterated NMA’s passion to offer quality healthcare services to Nigerians by Nigerians, stressing “not by any fake doctor”.

Olowojebutu emphasised that robust collaborative efforts were required to eliminate the menace, appealing to the public to contact NMA if they suspect anyone practising medicine without requisite qualifications in their communities.

A quack is any individual who provides healthcare services for which they do not hold the requisite qualifications and credentials to discharge.

According to a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Nigeria is one of the most vulnerable countries at high risk of medical quackery.