Cross River State Ministry of Justice has taken over the prosecution of a fake doctor arrested in Calabar.
The suspect, Mr. Simeon Ukpun (35), allegedly used the certificates of one Dr. Collins Okafor to secure employment with the ministry.
He was deployed in General Hospital, Calabar where he reportedly practised as a medical doctor before his arrest.
The PUNCH had reported in its February 2, 2012 edition that Ukpun worked as a medical doctor from October 1, 2010 to January 2012 when he was arrested.
The suspect who was arraigned before a Chief Magistrate’s Court in Calabar was slammed with three counts by the police.
Ukpun was accused of defrauding the state government “by falsely presenting yourself to one Dr. Phillip Obaji and a team of interviewers from the Cross River State Ministry of Health as a medical doctor and also presented to the team documents of one Dr. Collins Okafor Ifere as being your own document knowing it to be false.”
He was also accused of falsely claiming to be a medical doctor by presenting the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery certificate, and NYSC discharge certificate, receipts of practising fees from the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria “lawfully issued to one Dr. Collins Ifere Okafor” to the state Ministry of Health.
He was further charged with presenting a forged certificate of origin from Obanliku Local Government, a fake Senior Secondary School and an Abia State University certificates to secure employment as a medical doctor with the ministry.
The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges and was granted a N50, 000 bail by the magistrate, Mrs. B. O. Ebig.
At the resumed hearing on Friday, the ministry applied for the transfer of the case to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The magistrate granted the request and directed the police prosecutor to hand over the files to the DPP. The case was adjourned till July 1, 2013 for continuation.
BY MUDIAGA AFFE
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