When people are sick, they go to hospital for medical attention, but, in the case of Abubakar Buba, a native of Maciyar Kuka Village Bununu district in Tafawa Balewa local government area of Bauchi state, he was sick and went to hospital. But his condition deteriorated instead of improving.
It was gathered that the 23-year-old went to a private clinic for the treatment of fever, stomach ache- and diarrhoea. It was learnt that the doctor, who handled his case, ended up removing his two kidneys through an operation, a situation that has left Abubakar in a life-threatening condition.
He is now permanently on dialysis machine at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) Bauchi to keep him alive.
A Kaduna-based physician, Dr Mohammed Bello, told Sunday Vanguard that a patient cannot survive with no kidney unless he is placed 100% on dialysis machine.
“It is possible to live with only one kidney if the other is removed. But no one can live without both kidneys, unless he is placed on dialysis machine which plays the role of a kidney.” Also, a senior personnel in ATBUTH said the hospital’s main concern now is how to help the victim to survive.
He added: “We need money to take him abroad for kidney transplant and we need someone who will donate a kidney for him”.
Narrating the tragedy that befell Abubakar, the Director of Administration of Miyetti Allah Cattle Rearers, Bauchi State chapter, Alhaji Sadiq Ibrahim Ahmed, said the victim went to the clinic in Bauchi complaining of stomach ache, diarrhoea and fever, but the doctor rushed him into the theatre for operation and removed Abubakar’s kidneys saying they had been damaged by typhoid.
Ibrahim said after the incident, they were referred to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano where doctors confirmed that Abubakar’s two kidneys had been removed.
They referred him back to Bauchi for dialysis.
He said the patient needs N5million for kidney transplant to live and it must be done outside the country.
Ahmed added that the doctor took the patient to the theatre without even giving the family the chance to sign a guarantor form and follow other normal administrative process in the clinic.
Mohammed Abdullahi Hari, Secretary General, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Bauchi State chapter, said, “What happened to Abubakar is very unfortunate.
Some people we suspect to be ritualists sent their representatives to work in some of these private clinics and they charge exorbitantly. Now, instead of curing him of his ailment, they further compounded the problem of the poor boy.
We know the hospital as a place where humanity is taken care of but this time around they are turning it to something else”.
One of the family members, who pleaded anonymity, said, “We spent N8,000 for each session of dialysis in Kano and he needs three sessions in a week. We were referred back to ABTBUTH, Bauchi because it is cheaper and nearer home. In Bauchi, we pay N5,000 for each session of dialysis.”
The father of the patient, Alhaji Buba, said: “When my son was operated upon, the doctor asked me for N10, 000 at the private clinic which they said was for drugs. After sometime, maybe they understood that my son would not survive and I started raising alarm, they now asked us to go to Kano.
“They refused to send us to Bauchi. All my money finished in Kano on his treatment.
“From Kano, when I could not shoulder the expenses for the treatment, the hospital wrote to Bauchi Teaching Hospital to continue the treatment”.
According to him, when he returned to Bauchi, the CMD asked him for money and he told him that he had nothing. “On humanitarian grounds, the CMD ordered that doctors should start giving my son treatment free of charge before deciding on what to do.
I am appealing to good Samaritans to have mercy on my son and come to my aid by making contributions that will facilitate his treatment abroad”.
It was learnt that Bauchi State government was making efforts to help the victim.
Meanwhile, the police have arrested the doctor who allegedly removed the kidneys of Abubakar.
Bauchi State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Hassan Mohammed Auyo, confirmed the arrest of the man simply identified as Dr. Sani, saying, “The doctor that carried out the operation and a nurse are with us at the State Criminal Investigation Department; they are helping us with our investigation.” Auyo said the offence, if established, is criminal as it has to do with threat to life and the suspects will be charged to court.
-
Vanguard.
Feel FREE to SHARE!
