Wednesday, June 10, 2026 - The Cross River Taskforce on Health Quality and Anti-Quackery has shut down a private health facility, Safe Hands Maternity Clinic, in Calabar Municipality following a reported patient death after surgery.
The task force, chaired by Dan Abubakar, carried out an
unscheduled inspection of the facility after receiving a petition alleging that
a patient had died following a surgical procedure there. The facility, owned by
Inyang Ekeng, a community health extension officer, was found to be a
three-bedroom apartment that had been converted into a six-bed maternity clinic
operating without licensed nursing personnel.
During the inspection, the task force discovered that
surgeries were allegedly being performed by Sunday Abeng, a medical doctor and
registrar at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, under substandard
conditions. The committee also found that the clinic was operating beyond its
approved scope of practice and had admitted a stroke patient who had reportedly
been abandoned.
According to the task force, the facility lacked operational
licences, standard consulting rooms, adequate office space, proper ventilation,
staff records, and a register documenting treated patients. Other violations
identified included the absence of patient registration documentation, a lack
of theatre records, poor sanitation, inadequate waste disposal systems, and the
employment of unqualified personnel.
Reacting to the findings, Abubakar expressed concern over
the conditions observed at the facility, describing such establishments as
"potential death traps" that endangered unsuspecting members of the
public. He said the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, in line with the
state government's vision, would not tolerate the continued operation of
illegal and substandard healthcare facilities.
"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," he stated.
Abubakar warned that patronising unaccredited clinics was
tantamount to a suicide mission, considering the dangerous and unsanitary
conditions under which many of them operated. It was also gathered that the
clinic owner and attending doctor were given time to evacuate all admitted
patients before the facility was sealed.
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