Nigerian police bust 'bogus blood bank'

An unidentified boy carries local food called fufu for sale as he walks pass a street in Buguma in the oil rich Niger Delta area of Nigeria. Nigerian police on Wednesday, June 14, 2018 said they were investigating a man for running an illegal blood bank in Lagos. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • The man was running a clinic out of his Lagos apartment that was "not authorised.
  • Police discovered seven pints of blood in the apartment but said it was unclear if local hospitals were buying the blood.
  • On Monday last week he took two pints of blood from the boy, paid him 4,000 naira.

LAGOS,
Nigerian police on Wednesday said they were investigating a man for running an illegal blood bank after a teenager needed hospital treatment for giving four pints of blood in a week.
Achegbulu Paul was taken into police custody after paying a 17-year-old boy 4,000 naira ($22, 19 euros) to draw blood in an unauthorised facility, said Lagos police spokesman Chike Oti.
"He claimed to have received training as a lab technician that gives him the expertise to draw blood," he told AFP.
"On Monday last week he took two pints of blood from the boy, paid him 4,000 naira. This lad went back for business.

NOT AUTHORISED
"The man took another two pints from him on Saturday 9th June. After taking the two pints of blood from him the boy collapsed."
The man was running a clinic out of his Lagos apartment that was "not authorised", said Oti, adding "it is not a laboratory or hygienic enough for such an enterprise".
Police discovered seven pints of blood in the apartment but said it was unclear if local hospitals were buying the blood.
"The suspect is in police custody undergoing interrogation," said Oti.
Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer but despite the billions of dollars it has generated in revenue over decades, most of the country's 180 million people live in poverty.
Unemployment is high and some people exploit lax law enforcement to make a living.