The Radiographers Registration Board of Nigeria, an agency of the Federal Government, said it has arrested over 100 quacks in Lagos and other parts of the country.
The culprits are currently being prosecuted for their nefarious activities.
The RRBN also accused lawyers of frustrating the fight against quackery in the radiography profession in the country.
The organisation also attributed the increase in cancer diseases in the country to unauthorised use of radiation equipment on people by untrained persons, saying the wrong application of radiography on people usually results in cancers.
The RRBN regretted that at the moment, cancer centres in the country are not working to handle problems arising from the activities of the quacks.
The Registrar and Chief Executive of RRBN, Dr. Michael Okpaleke, stated this in an interview with The Punch in Abuja after his conferment with the Professional Fellowship of Civilian Institute of Democratic Administration, in recognition of his immense contribution to the society.
While blaming lawyers for slow prosecution of quack radiographers, he said some of the lawyers who represent the quacks “use legal technicalities to frustrate diligent prosecution.”
He therefore called on the public to alert RRBN of illegal operations of unlicensed radiographers in their communities, in order to rid the society of such practices.
Okpaleke said, “Over 100 quack radiographers have been successfully prosecuted in courts at the instance of RRBN. Some were freed after an undertaking that they will desist from the illegal practices.
“For some, we just warned them and advised them to look for other means of employment and livelihood.
“Those of them who are adamant have been taken to court and are being arraigned variously in Lagos and Abuja. Some are waiting for the case file to be assigned to judges and to prosecutors.
“In most of the cases, like the one we have in Lagos, the judge awarded us N100m as damages against the plaintiff who took us to court, despite the fact that he was using a quack to run a radiographic centre.
“That is the encouragement we have from the judiciary but the unfortunate thing there is that lawyers are using technicalities to frustrate us by delaying some of the cases.”
Okpaleke said that RRBN has commenced measures aimed at discouraging quackery in the sector, by opening more offices across the country.
On how to identify genuine radiographers, he said each member has a licence, which should be displayed for all to see.
0 comments:
Post a Comment