Foreign
Japa: 4,000 migrate, as Nigerian doctors takeover UK
Almost all the health institutions were battling with the shortage as they could not cope with the high number of patients who thronged the government hospitals, which were affordable compared with the private ones.
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Health had on Wednesday raised the alarm that not less than five wards with about 150 beds, had been closed down at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, due to a shortage of health workers.
The Chairman of the Committee, Dr Amos Mogaji, said the five wards had to be shut because there were no workers to operate them despite the large number of patients received at the institutions daily.
Findings showed that LUTH was not the only hospital battling with the problem as health workers lamented the heavy workload because their counterparts had left the country.
Although the Nigerian Medical Association and the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors could on Sunday not give the exact number of medical doctors that had left the country, the NMA had a few years ago said 2,000 health workers were leaving yearly.
Also, the NARD had in January 2023 stated that a survey it conducted indicated that more than 2,000 of its members left the country in 2022.
However, the harsh economic conditions in the country have been pushing many doctors to leave the country as 1,197 doctors had moved to the United Kingdom since May 29, 2023.
With health institutions including the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta; Aminu Kano University Teaching Hospital, Kano and the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife losing close to 1,000 doctors to japa in the last two years, there are strong indications that over 4,000 doctors might have left the country in the last two years.
In the FMC, no fewer than 200 doctors, including 50 medical consultants have left the country for greener pastures abroad.
Because of the shortage of doctors, it was gathered that the hospital was forced to reduce the number of its outpatients attended to and elective surgeries.
According to veryhealth.com, an “elective surgery” is the term used for a procedure that can be safely delayed without great risk to a patient’s health, such as cataract surgery. A nonelective (or emergency) surgery is a procedure that must be performed immediately for lifesaving or damage-preventing reasons.’’
In Kano State, The PUNCH gathered that no fewer than 789 nurses and 162 doctors had left the state, while about 50 doctors had left hospitals in Benue State.
One of our correspondents gathered that as many as 65 doctors left the OAUTH, Ile-Ife, in the last year, while about three wards had stopped admitting patients over inadequate manpower in the hospital.
An official of the NARD in the hospital, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, “65 doctors left OAUTH last year. 45 of them completed their training and left, while 20 abandoned their training and left for other countries.”
He also said about three wards in the hospital had stopped admitting patients due to inadequate manpower.
“Out of three units we have in the emergency section, only one is admitting patients. Two other units in the emergency ward are not admitting patients due to inadequate staff.
“Also, the psychiatric unit is not admitting new patients because we don’t have enough nurses. The Paediatric Unit is seriously understaffed. Generally, we don’t have enough staff in the hospital. Some people are available to work, but they are not employed,” he said.
OAUTH management could not be reached for reaction to the claim, as calls to Kemi Fasooto, the hospital Public Relations Officer, rang out and she has not responded to a text message sent to her by our correspondent, as at the time of filing this report.
FMC Abeokuta
At the FMC, Abeokuta, the Chairman of the Medical and Dental Consultant Association of Nigeria, Dr Jimoh Saheed, stated that in the last four years, the hospital had lost about 50 consultants and 150 resident doctors to the japa syndrome.
He said, “The japa syndrome has really affected and is still affecting the healthcare system in Nigeria. About 50 medical and dental consultants left FMC Abeokuta alone in the last four years. The number of resident doctors who left for greener pastures should be times three the above number.
“Therefore, the implication is that there is a severe shortage of manpower in the hospital, which has hampered the service delivery and care of patients. We have had to reduce the number of patients seen per clinic and also, and the elective theatre cases per day also dropped.
“As it stands, some segments of our emergencies had to be collapsed for the unit to work efficiently. The implication of all these will mean that we can’t function optimally and the japa wave has affected service delivery, training of medical specialists as well as research.”
Jimoh said the way forward was for the government to declare a state of emergency in the health sector, which would include massive recruitment of various health personnel, and equipping the hospitals to international standards, among others.
Similarly, the Chairman of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, Ogun State Hospital Unit, Ijaye, Abeokuta, Mrs Lola Idowu, said nurses that had left the hospital in the last three years could not be less than 40, including those who had retired.
The Benue State chapter of the NMA confirmed that more than half of the number of medical doctors working in the state Health Management Board had left the country to search for jobs in better locations.
The NMA Chairman, Dr Usha Anenga, described the situation as pathetic.
Anenga said, “We used to have over 100 doctors at the Health Management Board but now there are less than 50 left. We used to have a consultant and epidemiologist at the Federal Medical Centre but they have left. The gynecologist at the University Teaching Hospital has also left.”
At the University of Jos Teaching Hospital, Plateau State, about 100 resident doctors have left the facility as the remaining ones at the hospital lament the shortage of manpower in the health institution.
The President of the ARD in JUTH, Dr Ishishen Artu, stated that last year, more than 70 resident doctors had left the hospital.
“What is happening across the country about japa syndrome is not different from the situation here in JUTH. When I came on board as ARD president about 11 months ago, we had 410 members.
“But during our last nominal roll from the accounting department, we were about 340. So that is to tell you how doctors have been moving away from the hospital,” Artu stated.
He blamed the manpower shortage on poor welfare packages, insecurity, and inadequate equipment, and called on the government to intervene to avoid an imminent collapse of the health system across the country.
He added, “Some of us who are still around are not finding it easy. Many of our mates outside the country including Ghana, and South Africa are receiving three to five times what we are receiving in Nigeria.
“They want to come home to practice but they can’t come under the present situation. That is why the government has to look at the issues holistically to address them so that the health sector will not break down completely in the country.”
Kano hospitals hit
Over 789 nurses and 162 doctors have relocated outside Nigeria from Kano State alone, according to the NMA in the state.
Similarly, over 162 medical doctors relocated to other countries across the world within the same period under review.
The Chairman of the Kano State Chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr. Abdullahi Sulaiman, disclosed this in a telephone interview with The PUNCH on Saturday.
“Many medical doctors and other categories of healthcare workers are exiting the state in droves. So, I cannot tell you the exact number of doctors and nurses that have left the country. I can only give you an estimate.
“It is a bad situation and this is across almost all healthcare workers, not only doctors. They are leaving for Gambia, Somalia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, and many others every week,” he said.
According to him, the shortage of such personnel was causing a lot of problems, as those left behind were forced to bear the brunt in the form of overwork, exhaustion, and burnout in a non-conducive working environment.
“About two years back, we wanted to open some wards that were constructed and donated by some wealthy individuals at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, but because there were no healthcare workers to man the places, we had to suspend the opening until later,” Sulaiman stated.
He stated that recently, five anesthetic doctors were employed by the AKTH but three had since abandoned the work and relocated abroad.
“We have been talking about the issue but the government is not taking deliberate steps to address the problem.
“To prevent doctors and other categories of health workers from going out of the country, the government must take deliberate action to address the issue,” he added.
1,197 doctors move
Findings showed that approximately 1,197 Nigerian-trained doctors moved to the United Kingdom since May 29, 2023, to date.
At the moment, Nigeria is set to overtake Pakistan and become the country with the second-highest number of foreign-trained doctors in the UK. Currently, India remains the country with the highest number of foreign-trained doctors in the UK.
This is according to the register of the General Medical Council of the UK. The GMC is a public body that maintains the official register of medical practitioners within the UK.
Though about 1,197 Nigerian-trained doctors were licensed between May 29, 2023 and December 1, 2023, the total number of Nigerian doctors licensed to practice in the UK is now 12,198.
This figure, however, excludes Nigerian doctors who were trained in other countries.
Presently, there are 73 Nigerian-trained doctors in the field of anaesthetics and Intensive Care Medicine, 61 in the field of emergency medicine, 241 for general medicine, 207 for obstetrics and gynecology, 17 for occupational medicine, 16 for ophthalmology, pediatrics field with 164, and 50 for pathology.
There are 35 of them for public health, 357 for psychiatry, 29 for psychiatry and 135 for surgery.
The rate of migration of medical doctors has recently become a matter of concern. The Nigerian Medical Association, while lamenting the high rate of medical brain drain, had said Nigeria might import doctors in the future.
In 2015, only 233 Nigerian doctors moved to the UK. The number increased to 279 in 2016, while the figure was 475 in 2017. In 2018, the figure rose to 852, while it further increased to 1,347 in 2019.
In 2020, the figure was 833 even though the GMC closed operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The figure for 2021 was put at 932.
The Chairman of the Committee of Chief Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Hospitals, Prof. Emem Bassey, commenting on the brain drain said, “Some African countries are also beginning to poach from Nigeria.
“The West Coast is looking for our specialists. So many people are now going to places like Sierra Leone and Gambia and the wages they earn $3000 to $ 4000. It is about three to four times what they earn back home. So we are beginning to see that people are leaving for other African countries too.
“The health sector is currently undergoing a major crisis in terms of manpower. What we are seeing is that medical specialists, not just doctors, even nurses even more nurses are leaving. Doctors, nurses, laboratory scientists, physiotherapists, radiographers, and all manner of health professionals are leaving the country in droves.”
The parents of a Nigerian student convicted of robbery and blackmail in the United Kingdom have appealed to the authorities to review the verdict, insisting that their son was wrongly convicted and is innocent of all the charges against him.
Mr Aderinkola Akinrinola and Mrs Olayinka Akinrinola made the appeal in a statement released in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Thursday, following the conviction of their son, Oluwatobiloba Akinrinola, by a UK court on June 19, 2026.
He is currently being held in a prison in Nottingham pending his sentencing, scheduled for July 27.
The distraught parents alleged that the conviction was based largely on circumstantial evidence and their son’s association with the principal suspect in the case.
They explained that their son met Richile Vagnu shortly after resuming his studies as a first-year student at Leicester University in September 2025, describing their relationship as that of acquaintances rather than close associates.
“Our son was present at the party where the incident took place, but he was never involved in the robbery,” the parents said.
They claimed that some of the victims testified in court that Oluwatobiloba was not among those who robbed them and that he only briefly entered the room where the incident occurred, asked what was happening and left after making it clear that he did not want to be involved.
The parents further stated that investigators found evidence of money transfers made by victims to accounts linked to other suspects, but found no such transactions in their son’s bank records.
They also alleged that CCTV footage presented during the trial did not place their son at the scene of the alleged robbery, apart from showing him arriving at the party.
According to them, the police were unable to produce some of the suspects in court because they allegedly failed to honour police invitations.
The family further claimed that one of the victims testified that Oluwatobiloba appeared to be trying to assist those affected rather than participating in the crime.
They disclosed that shortly after the incident, their son came across a social media video that allegedly linked him to the attack.
Concerned by the allegations, he reportedly contacted the police voluntarily and offered to present himself for questioning.
According to the parents, officers informed him at the time that he was not considered a suspect.
Describing their son as a calm and sociable young man with no previous criminal record, the couple appealed to the UK authorities to re-examine the case.
They also called on relevant authorities, legal institutions and human rights organisations to look into the circumstances surrounding the conviction and ensure that justice is served.
The statement read in part, “Our son, Oluwatobiloba Akinrinola, was wrongfully convicted of robbery and blackmail. We are Mr Aderinkola Akinrinola and Mrs Olayinka Akinrinola, parents of Oluwatobiloba Akinrinola, who was wrongfully convicted of robbery and blackmail by the UK government on June 19, 2026. He has been remanded in Nottingham Prison pending sentencing on July 27, 2026.
“Our son is innocent of the charges against him. The police argument against him is that he is guilty by association with the prime suspect. The only evidence presented in court against our son is a picture he took with Richile Vagnu, the prime suspect, and CCTV footage showing him entering the venue of the party where the robbery took place on November 21, 2025. Oluwatobiloba Akinrinola met Richile Vagnu in October after resuming school in September as a fresher at Leicester University. They were, at best, acquaintances.
The parents’ statement added, “While our son was present at the party where the robbery took place, he was never part of the robbery. Some of the victims also confirmed this in court. As recorded in his statement, he briefly entered the room where the robbery was taking place, questioned the prime suspect about what was happening and then left, insisting that he did not want to be part of it.
“The robbery victims said they were robbed of their jackets and footwear, and none of the items was found in our son’s possession after police searched his apartment. The police said they found evidence that money was transferred by the victims to the accounts of the other suspects, Vagnu and Ayomide Ibraheem, but no such evidence was found in our son’s bank records.
“The court insists our son is guilty but allowed other suspects to go scot-free, including Ayomide Ibraheem, whom victims identified as the person preventing them from leaving the room during the robbery. In all the CCTV footage played by the police in court, our son did not appear at the scene of the crime. He was only seen entering the party. The police also failed to produce the other suspects in court, despite allegations that they received money from the victims. The police said they did not honour invitations.
“Victims testified that our son was not involved. In fact, one of the victims said he was trying to help them. A few days after the robbery incident, our son saw a misleading video online posted by a TikTok influencer linking him to the attack. He immediately contacted the police and told them he was willing to come in for questioning because he was not involved in the robbery. The police told him not to bother because he was not a suspect.
“Our son is a calm and sociable young man who has never been linked to any criminal activity before now. Please help us. We are devastated. We simply want the world to hear our side of the story. Our son is about to suffer for a crime he did not commit. His life is about to be destroyed for something he did not do. We want the UK government to review the case and ensure that justice is done.”
Moore, who represents West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, made the remarks in a post on his X handle on Wednesday.
His reaction followed the Senate’s approval of the bill which seeks to decentralise policing by allowing states to establish their own police services alongside the Nigeria Police Force.
Moore, who has previously spoken on attacks against Christians in Nigeria, said the reform was one he had advocated publicly and privately.
“I’m encouraged to see Nigeria’s Senate approve legislation to establish state-level police forces—a reform I’ve called for publicly and privately since I first started investigating the genocide against Christians in Nigeria.
“I can’t stress how critical this law that will empower states to protect their own citizens and reducing dependence on decision makers in Abuja is to the effort to defend persecuted Christians and address insecurity,” he wrote.
“President Tinubu deserves credit for pushing it forward, but now we need 2/3rds of the states to ratify before it will take effect,” he added.
PUNCH Online reports that the Senate on Wednesday passed the Constitution Alteration Bill seeking to establish state police across the federation after more than two-thirds of senators voted in support during a manual voting process.
The proposed legislation seeks to establish a state policing framework operating concurrently with the federal police system, empowering governors to appoint Commissioners of Police for their respective states, subject to confirmation by their state Houses of Assembly.
The bill also includes safeguards against abuse, providing that state police cannot be deployed against individuals or groups merely for criticising a state government except in accordance with the law. It will only become part of the Constitution after securing the required approvals from state legislatures and completing other constitutional processes.
The department stated that Akintola was taken into custody immediately after her plea and sentencing hearing before Magistrate Judge Kate Vaughan.
The statement noted that at the sentencing hearing, Vaughan condemned the offence, saying she was struck by the fact that Akintola had targeted a vulnerable victim.
It noted that court records showed that Akintola became a social worker for the Snoqualmie Tribe in January 2023 and later applied to become the Social Security Representative Payee for a minor child under the tribe’s care.
The statement added that the child’s mother had died, leaving survivor benefits for the child with a prohibition for social workers from serving as representative payees for children under the tribe’s care.
The statement noted that despite the prohibition, prosecutors said Akintola used the child’s Social Security number and her information to secure the appointment and redirected the benefits into a bank account she controlled.
The attorney’s office stated that she spent the funds on personal expenses, including purchases at a retailer in North Bend, Washington.
The statement read in part, “In September 2023, Akintola applied by telephone to be the Social Security representative payee for a minor child with intellectual disabilities who was a ward of the tribe.
“The Tribe prohibits its social workers from becoming a representative payee for any child under its care. Nevertheless, Akintola used the child’s Social Security number and her own to apply to be the minor child’s representative payee.”
The US noted that the theft was uncovered in July 2024 when Akintola accompanied her supervisor to the Social Security Administration to inquire about the child’s missing benefits.
The department further disclosed that Akintola failed to appear for an earlier plea and sentencing hearing scheduled for May 22, 2026.
The statement added, “Prosecutors learnt she had left the U.S. on May 20, 2026, and travelled to Togo in West Africa using a passport issued in a different last name.
“Akintola appeared for the plea and sentencing hearing yesterday (July 15), and Judge Vaughan ultimately ordered her into custody to begin serving the sentence immediately.”
The statement noted that a representative of the Snoqualmie Tribe told the court that Akintola had abused the trust reposed in her as a social worker and exploited a grieving child for financial gain.
It added that the representative said the stolen funds were intended to support the child’s future independence and well-being and that the victim was an autistic child who depended on the benefits for support following the death of the mother.
“In our profession, a social worker is meant to be a safekeeper. A protector for children who have been stripped of their safety, family, and stability.
“Ms Akintola did not just fail in that duty; she weaponised her position of power to systematically steal from a grieving, autistic child. This money was not a luxury. It was a lifeline.”
The attorney’s office said Akintola was ordered to pay $17,638 in restitution to the Social Security Administration.
She was also barred from ever serving as a Social Security representative payee in the future.
Foreign
Putin ‘shuts down CCTV protecting him’ fearing assassination after Iran’s Ayatollah tracked via cameras and killed
The paranoid Russian tyrant is said to be shaking in his boots after the US and Israel used AI camera hacking to hunt down and kill Iran‘s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Putin is paranoid that his security cameras could be used against him.
It comes after the precise strike that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader on February 28.
The sophisticated operation has sparked fears in Russia that similar technology could be used to track top officials – or the despot himself.
The move underscores mounting Kremlin fears that widespread surveillance cameras could be used against Moscow – given the new powers of AI.
Israeli intelligence are reportedly harvesting huge amounts of data scraped from Tehran’s traffic camera network.
Putin’s surveillance system has since been turned back on – but was only reinstated after engineers tried to break it off from the internet, the Financial Times reported.
The Kremlin is terrified that its sprawling surveillance system could be turned against the regimeCredit: East2West
Israel are understood to be analysing these millions of hours of video using AI-powered software.
Methods like these were reportedly used in the operation to assassinate Ayatollah Khamenei on February 28.
Terrified Russian security chiefs are now warning that the sprawling system of surveillance cameras around the country could be harnessed against them.
Head of Russia’s FSB security service Alexander Bortnikov warned that the deaths of senior Iranian figures should serve as a “clear warning sign” about the vulnerabilities of modern camera networks.
It comes amid the growing capabilities of AI – which can now track and flag certain types of behaviour rather than individual faces.
The technology has been described as the “holy grail of surveillance”, according to one European official who told the FT it lets security services to search for movements rather than simply objects or people.
Earlier this week, Putin ordered his two eldest daughters to move into his bunker palace with him.
Maria Vorontsova, 41, and Katerina Tikhonova, 39, have moved into Mad Vlad’s highly guarded forest palace complex.
The tyrant’s demand for his two daughters and three grandchildren to move in was revealed by a new investigation from We Can Explain.
It reported that Putin’s multi-millionaire daughter Maria and her two children moved to the Valdai palace complex.
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Katerina Tikhonova, 39, a rock n’ roll dancer, also moved in with her son.
The deranged dictator already shared the palace with his mistress Alina Kabaeva, 43, and their two sons, Ivan, 11, and Vladimir, six.
The Valdai complex is guarded by dozens of air defence systems making it one of the most secure locations in Russia.
Putin’s palace now has a total of 27 towers fitted with anti-aircraft systems, up from just seven two years ago.
A Nigerian-born Roman Catholic priest, Anthony Odiong, has been convicted by a jury in Texas, United States, for sexually assaulting women under his spiritual care, The Guardian reports.
Odiong, 57, was found guilty on one count of first-degree sexual assault and two counts of second-degree sexual assault after a trial in Waco, Texas.
The jury, made up of eight women and four men, delivered its verdict after about two hours of deliberation on Friday.
The court heard testimony from two women who said Odiong used his role as a priest to manipulate and pressure them into sexual relationships.
He was accused of exploiting his position as a Catholic priest to pursue sexual relationships with women he was providing spiritual direction.
Odiong, who pleaded not guilty, could face life imprisonment on the first-degree charge when sentencing begins on Monday.
Prosecutors said the offences involved two women who testified in court that the priest abused his clerical authority during periods of emotional vulnerability.
One of the women, identified in court documents as Mary Doe, told the jury that Odiong began a sexual relationship with her while providing spiritual counselling during a difficult divorce.
She also testified that her son once walked in on her and Odiong during intercourse at her home.
Another woman, Jane Doe, testified that he pressured her into sexual acts under the guise of spiritual guidance.
The case followed a 2024 report by The Guardian, which first documented allegations of sexual misconduct and coercion against the priest during his ministry in Texas and Louisiana.
Prosecutors said that report prompted one of the victims to come forward to police with further allegations.
Investigators later gathered additional evidence, including DNA linked to a child fathered by Odiong during his time in Louisiana.
Odiong, a naturalised US citizen, was ordained in Nigeria in 1993 and later served in Catholic parishes in Texas and Louisiana.
Authorities said he was suspended from the ministry in 2019 following earlier allegations of misconduct.
His lawyers argued during the trial that the relationships were consensual, but prosecutors maintained that he abused his position of authority as a clergy member.
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