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A Magistrates’ Court sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, has convicted one Akpoviri Jimmy for impersonating a medical doctor.
The court presided over by a Senior Magistrate, Akassa Michael, in a judgment delivered on Friday sentenced Jimmy to four years in imprisonment with hard labour.
The 49-year-old convict was arrested in Yenagoa in June 2021 for impersonating one Dr Charles Umeh, a serving medical doctor based in Taraba State, while concealing his real name Akpoviri Jimmy.
He had confessed when paraded by the police that he used the academic credentials of Dr Umeh without his knowledge.
The prosecuting counsel, Philip Soroh, commended the judicial proceedings and the state chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association as well as the state Ministry of Health for their roles in the effort to bring the imposter to book.
The state chairman, NMA, Dr Torunana Ngowari, thanked the parties that were involved in the process of the arrest, prosecution and conviction of the fake doctor.
He said the NMA was prepared to safeguard the health of residents by ensuring the apprehension and conviction of quacks.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Wisdom Sawyer, also expressed satisfaction with the judgment.
He stressed that it would serve as a deterrent to other fake doctors parading themselves in the society, adding that the state government would go after them.
