The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has ordered the immediate shutdown of unregistered hospitals and the arrest of quack medical practitioners operating within Abuja.
Wike issued the directive following the death of a pregnant woman at Afolmi Hospital, Durumi, after undergoing a caesarean section.
He mandated that individuals operating or working in unlicensed health facilities must be arrested and prosecuted.
Describing the incident as tragic, the Minister’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, stressed that despite the availability of free healthcare under the Federal Capital Territory Health Insurance Scheme (FHIS), many residents continue to seek care from unauthorized clinics.
“In the FCT, vulnerable groups, including pregnant women, are entitled to free enrolment in the FHIS, granting access to services at Primary Health Care Centres under the Basic Minimum Package of Health Services,” Olayinka said.
He noted that, in support of the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda, several general hospitals—such as Gwarinpa, Nyanya, Abaji, and Kuje—have been upgraded to Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care Centres, providing free caesarean sections.
“Our pregnant women are again urged to utilise these facilities and avoid unlicensed medical personnel,” he advised.
Giving an update on the Durumi incident, Olayinka revealed that an investigation by the Private Health Establishments Registration and Monitoring Committee found that Afolmi Hospital was not duly registered. During an inspection, only one staff member, Mr Simon Elisha Godiya, a Junior Community Health Extension Worker, was present.
Godiya reported that the surgery had been performed by a certain Murtala Jumma and another unidentified individual.
Attempts to reach Jumma were unsuccessful.
Olayinka added that officers from the Durumi Divisional Police Headquarters have visited the facility and taken over the case.
The police are now working to identify those involved in the surgery, verify their qualifications, and uncover the circumstances surrounding the death of the late Chekwube Chinagorom.
