Foreign Doctor Arrested for Practicing Without License in Abuja
A
neurosurgeon from India Dr Raju Bhuvaneswara Basina, was arrested in
Abuja by officials of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN)
on February 24, 2014, Monday.
He
was picked up by the police from Apo Resettlement Division and MDCN’s
inspectorate officials led by Dr Henry Okwuokenye at the Asokoro
District Hospital in the Federal Capital Territory.
MDCN declared the Indian national was operating without a licence.
The 53-year-old specialist was performing a Craniotomy (brain surgery) in an operating theatre at the time of his arrest.
Dr
Ahmadu Abubakar, the Chief Medical Director of Asokoro Hospital, begged
the MDCN officials to let Dr Basina finish the surgery. After it, the
Indian was immediately arrested.
However,
Dr Basina claimed he had applied for license recently after many months
of practicing at the hospital without obtaining clearance from the
MDCN, the regulating agency for doctors and dentists in the country.
The
FCT Administration, through its establishment unit and Health
Secretariat, centrally hires and posts
doctors to its district
hospitals, managed by the Hospitals Management Board.
It
would be noted that the Council is currently prosecuting at least three
separate cases, involving improper licensing in the court of law.
