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Kehinde Ayoade, a nurse who allegedly claims to be a doctor, is in trouble over the death of a patient

Kehinde Ayoade, a nurse and proprietor of Frame Dynamic Convalescent Centre, Idimu, Lagos State, is in trouble following the death of Darlington Manuwa, a businessman, in his clinic on July 2. The patient died within 45 minutes of his admission. The deceased’s family insisted that the nurse was responsible for the death of their beloved one because he had allegedly operated at a level far above his training as a nurse. To buttress their claim, Oghogho Manuwa, the deceased’s elder brother, who is also a clinical psychiatrist with bias in forensic psychiatry, has petitioned Jide Idris, Lagos State commissioner for health. This has now led to investigation into activities of the nurse by Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency, HEFAMAA, an arm of the state’s ministry of health. 

In the four-page petition dated July 20, Oghogho, who was in the United Kingdom, UK, when he learnt of his brother’s death said he had to enquire about what killed his brother. The unsatisfactory explanation he got prompted further questions.  He then requested for the phone number of the doctor who attended to his brother before he passed on. “I felt a need to speak to the doctor that attended to him so we could get the facts of what really happened,” Oghogho said in his petition. “I called the telephone number and a gentleman who introduced himself as Dr Kehinde answered the phone.”

Oghogho asked the doctor how his brother died and the doctor provided explanation. He told him that when Darlington was brought to his clinic, he complained of chest pain and that he had smoked a lot the previous night. There was no abdominal pain or fever and that he was behaving irrationally. Unknown to Ayoade that he was being investigated, he continued by describing the kind of treatment he gave the patient. When Oghogho realised many inconsistencies in the treatment allegedly given to his brother, he was forced to ask the doctor his qualification. According to Oghogho, he said Ayoade told him he had MBBS but no post-graduate training.

To Oghogho, another inconsistency was in the death certificate issued to his family. He said what Ayoade told him as the cause of death was different from what was stated in the death certificate. This, he said, further heightened his suspicion because in the certificate of death, it was stated that his brother was diagnosed of severe bronchial asthma. Oghogho said his brother had no history of asthma. So, it was a surprise to him, especially as the earlier diagnoses they had discussed did not indicate asthma.  

When Oghogho returned to Nigeria two weeks after the death of his brother, he continued with the investigation. To him, it was a matter of saving the lives of other unsuspecting people from the hands of quacks. When he visited Frame Dynamic on July 17, he discovered more abnormalities in the handling of his brother’s treatment. This time, a second doctor was brought into the discussion. “Dr Kehinde told me that Darlington was initially attended to by one Dr Akande Akingbehin before he came later to see him,” he said.

He requested to speak with Akingbehin and Ayoade got him on phone and he continued the probe with Akingbehin. “Dr Akingbehin told me that Dr Kehinde attended to Darlington first and he {Akingbehin} came in later to see him. I noted the marked contradiction in both their accounts,” he said. It was then that Ayoade confessed that he is a registered nurse, trained at Ijebu Ode School of Nursing. “In summary, Dr Kehinde, as he referred to himself, is practising medicine at a level that he is not trained to do. He does not have the requisite skills and registration to do so. He could not recognise common medical emergency and has grossly mismanaged my brother, leading to his death. I am not sure for how long he has been practising, but I do not think that this is his first mismanaged case. He has very little or even no knowledge of medicine at all,” he said.

HEFAMAA has already reacted to the petition by shutting down the clinic. In addition to sealing off the clinic, the agency said it would recommend Ayoade’s suspension to the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, NANNM, if he is found guilty of the allegation against him. Ayoade was accused of attending to patients in the capacity of a medical doctor, thereby operating beyond his training, leading to the death of Darlington.

But Ayoade, the man at the centre of the controversy, argued that the allegation against him was wrong.  After many unsuccessful attempts to see him, Newswatch had to rely on phone interview with him which he reluctantly accepted on the ground that the case was still being investigated. But when asked whether he mismanaged the treatment of Darlington, he said no and even boasted that his facility was still functional. When told he is a fake doctor, he immediately cut the call. He refused to pick further calls put to his line. But Newswatch undercover reporter called Ayoade on Tuesday, August 16, and asked if his clinic was still opened. He then confirmed that it had been shut by the Lagos State government.