– As NANNM vows to follow -up case to the letter
A nurse impostor was arrested at the maternity ward of Randle General Hospital, Surulere, on Wednesday afternoon, suspected to be a baby kidnapper.
The man, who claimed to live in the Fadeyi area of the state, was seen parading himself in a nurse uniform in the maternity ward, when security officials accosted him and found that he was a fake nurse.
Pharmanewsonline learnt that he was said to have entered the hospital, got into nurses’ changing room and changed into a nurse’s uniform, thereafter, began roaming about the ward before he was caught.
In a video which has gone viral on social media, posted by one Safinatu Umaru, people have described the fake nurse with different intentions such as baby kidnapping, ritualism and trafficking syndicate.
The impostor, whom sources claimed to be an unwell patient of Neuro Psychiatric Hospital Yaba, denied he had come to the hospital to steal babies.
Although Umaru, through the video claimed that the incidence occurred at the maternity section of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, but the management of LASUTH, through their Instragram handle has since set the record straight, saying it took place at the Randle General Hospital, Surulere.
“From the viral video, his mother identified him and came to the hospital with details to show that he was unwell.
“Detectives have verified from Yaba that he was a patient and was admitted there for some time,” said a source.
Reacting to the perennial cases of nurse impostors, the Chairman, National Association of Nurses and Midwives of Nigeria (NANNM) Comrade Julius Awojide, said the association will leave no stone unturned in dealing with fake nurses in the state.
Awojide, in a chat with Pharmanewsonline said under the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, impersonation is a criminal offence, and it will be punished accordingly. He acknowledged the fact that there are several fake nurses in the state, especially the auxiliary nurses, saying they are set to fish them out.
He however stated that he is going to personally follow-up this case with the Randle General Hospital management, to ensure the real identity of the culprit is found.
“Whatever it takes to sanitise the image of nurses will be done. Under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, impersonation is a criminal offence, and anyone caught will face the wrath of the law.
“Anybody that tries to mess our image will be dealt with accordingly. Just as we have a case in court, of a lady a presented a fake Nursing certificate to secure employment with the Lagos State Health Service Commission, no one will be spared when arrested
“On the case at hand, we will visit the hospital, discuss with the apex nurse in-charge, even though the police is already investigating the matter, but we will surely follow –up the case”, Awojide said.
[…] Verifying the identity of the nurses and other staff in the health care system. When individuals join the healthcare system in Nigeria and learn about new customers and vendors, the first step of identity verification involves getting a sense of who the Nurse is, also who the vendor/agency is. This phase usually verifies the Nurse’s identity. […]