Cross River seals clinic after patient death

Authorities in Nigeria's Cross River state have shut down a private health facility, Safe Hands Maternity Clinic, in Calabar Municipality. The closure followed a patient's death after undergoing surgery at the clinic. The state's Taskforce on Health Quality and Anti-Quackery, led by Dan Abubakar, conducted an unannounced inspection after receiving a petition about the alleged death.

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potential death traps

The inspection revealed a severely substandard facility. Safe Hands Maternity Clinic, owned by community health extension officer Inyang Ekeng, was operating out of a converted three-bedroom apartment with six beds. The task force found no licensed nursing personnel on duty. Surgeries were allegedly performed by a medical doctor, Sunday Abeng, under unsafe conditions.

Further violations included the clinic operating beyond its approved scope, admitting a stroke patient who had reportedly been abandoned, and a complete lack of essential documentation. The facility lacked operational licenses, proper consulting rooms, adequate office space, sufficient ventilation, staff records, and patient registers. Sanitation was poor, waste disposal systems were inadequate, and unqualified staff were employed.

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The Governor is currently face-lifting and constructing modern, well-equipped health centres across the state. Residents are strongly encouraged to seek care at these approved government facilities rather than risk their lives with quack operators.

Abubakar described such facilities as "potential death traps" and stated that the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare would not tolerate illegal healthcare operations. He urged residents to seek care at modern, well-equipped government facilities, warning that using unaccredited clinics is a "suicide mission." The clinic owner and doctor were given time to evacuate patients before the facility was sealed.

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patronising unaccredited clinics was tantamount to a suicide mission, considering the dangerous and unsanitary conditions under which many of them operated.