Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The surgery was performed on September 8, 2026, at a private clinic in Ekori, Yakurr Local Government Area of Cross River State. The patient, a 60-year-old man identified only as Ukpan, was discharged the same day. For three days, everything appeared fine. Then, on September 11, at about 4 p.m., his condition deteriorated rapidly. He was rushed to Ugep General Hospital by the man who had operated on him, 33-year-old Bassey Otu Bassey. By 9 p.m., the patient's family had surrounded Bassey at the hospital, demanding to know who he really was and what he had done to their father. They were suspicious of his qualifications, and their suspicion quickly turned to rage. Police officers on duty intervened, prevented what could have been a mob killing, and took Bassey into protective custody at the Ugep Police Division. During questioning, he told investigators something that has now become the central question in the case: he is a theatre assistant who performed the procedure in the absence of his principal.
The Cross River State Police Command confirmed the incident in a statement issued on Sunday, September 13, 2026, by its Public Relations Officer, ASP Sunday Eitokpah. The command said it had commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the alleged unauthorised hernia surgery, and that it was verifying the suspect's professional status and qualifications. Medical personnel are also investigating the cause of the patient's complications to determine whether they are linked to the surgery. The police said no conclusion had been reached on criminal liability pending the outcome of investigations and medical reports. They also cautioned members of the public against taking the law into their own hands, assuring that anyone found culpable would be prosecuted.
But the incident has already exposed a deeper crisis that has been festering in Nigeria's healthcare system for decades. Quackery is not a new problem. It is a persistent, deadly one. Across the country, unqualified individuals pose as doctors, operate illegal clinics, and perform surgeries they have no business performing. In January 2026, the police in Ondo State arrested a 25-year-old man, Nasiru Idris, for allegedly operating an illegal clinic in Ore. He was not a registered medical practitioner, but he presented himself as a doctor and provided medical services without the required professional registration. The Ondo case also involved a previous fake doctor who allegedly performed a caesarean section on a woman who was later rushed to hospital with excessive bleeding. Investigators subsequently discovered that the suspect was not a medical doctor. In August 2026, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, described quackery as "homicide by instalment" and urged the Nigerian Medical Association to strengthen professional accountability and take a leading role in the fight against it.
The phrase is not an exaggeration. When a theatre assistant performs a hernia surgery in the absence of his principal, he is not merely breaking the law. He is gambling with a human life. Every incision, every suture, every decision made on the operating table requires years of training, clinical judgment, and the kind of experience that cannot be acquired by assisting in a theatre. A hernia repair is not a minor procedure. It involves the abdominal wall, the intestines, and the risk of infection, bleeding, and recurrence. When performed by someone who is not qualified to do it, the consequences can be catastrophic. The 60-year-old patient in Ekori is now living with those consequences.
The case also raises uncomfortable questions about the private clinic where the surgery was performed. How did a theatre assistant come to operate on a patient in a private facility? Was the clinic registered? Was the principal aware that his assistant was performing surgeries in his absence? Who was supervising the procedure? The police have not provided answers to these questions, and the clinic has not been publicly identified. But the fact that the surgery took place in a private clinic suggests that there was at least a veneer of legitimacy. The patient and his family likely believed they were in safe hands. They were not.
For the family of Ukpan, the nightmare is far from over. The patient remains in hospital, his condition uncertain, his prognosis unclear. His family faces the agonising wait for medical reports that will determine whether his complications are linked to the surgery and whether the man who operated on him will face criminal charges. The suspect, meanwhile, is in custody, his professional status under investigation, his future hanging in the balance. He has not been convicted of any crime, and he is presumed innocent until proven otherwise. But the allegations against him, if true, represent a profound betrayal of the trust that patients place in the medical profession. The hospital gown, the surgical mask, the sterile instruments, they are all part of a covenant. When that covenant is broken, the consequences are measured in human suffering.
The Cross River State Police Command has urged members of the public to desist from mob action and jungle justice. That advice is sound. The family's anger is understandable, but violence will not heal their father or bring clarity to the case. What is needed now is a thorough, transparent investigation, one that determines exactly what happened in that private clinic in Ekori, who is responsible, and how the patient's complications are connected to the surgery. The police have promised to follow the evidence wherever it leads. The medical council must also act. If Bassey Otu Bassey is not a licensed medical practitioner, he should never have been in an operating theatre. And if he is a theatre assistant, the question of how he came to perform surgery in the absence of his principal must be answered. The patient in Ekori deserves justice. The Nigerian public, which has watched case after case of quackery go unpunished, deserves reassurance that the healthcare system is not a lottery where the prize is survival.
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