A 40-year-old man who has been working as a doctor in the Suleja General Hospital has been discovered to be a fraud.

Bamigboye Olusegun was arrested by the police after a mother filed a complaint that the surgery he purportedly performed on her son for hernia did not in fact take place. Mr Olusegun had merely wheeled the 10-year-old boy into the theatre, wrapped the patient's middle in plaster and wheeled him out again.

The arrested man was employed on a N160,000 monthly salary by the Niger State government three years ago.

Investigators say as the boy's health deteriorated, the mother returned to the hospital and complained to the Chief Medical Director who ordered the removal of the plaster for inspection of the complainant. This revealed that no incision or stitches were made on the body of the boy.

A suspicious hospital management began to question the qualification of the ‘doctor.'

In Minna, at the ministry's headquarters, discreet investigations into the academic credentials of Mr Olusegun commenced and his papers were sent to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) where it was found that he had been using the certificate of a director in the Malaria Control Centre of the Federal Ministry of Health in Abuja, Segun Oyeniyi.

Further investigations revealed that Mr Olusegun had been caught before and handed over to the police in Nasarawa State for committing a similar offence. The medical council was shocked to find that he was released to continue his life of crime.

Mr Olusegun, who graduated from the Institute of Medical Laboratory Technology, University of Jos, Plateau State confessed that he bought the certificate for N5000 from one Baba Abolaji, a messenger in the office of the medical director of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Kwara State.

He said he became a fake medical doctor because "I have passion for the profession".

Niger State Police Commissioner, Michael Zuokumor, confirmed the story and said the fake doctor would be charged to court soon.