Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command
[dropcap]A[/dropcap] 45-year-old medical laboratory technician, Achegbulu Paul, has been arrested by the police in Lagos for illegally operating a blood bank in his one-room apartment at Number 18 Kusa bus stop in Bariga, with children as donors.
The suspect was arrested on June 9th after he drew four pints of blood from 17 years old Ayomide Adesanya on Monday June 4 and Saturday June 9. He took two pints each on the two days.
Police said Paul was taking blood from underage children and giving them N2,000 per pint of blood, which he would later sell to hospitals for N7,000. It was learnt that underage children who were waiting to sell blood to him were rescued from his one-room apartment.The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Chike Oti, said the Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, led detectives to Bariga to see the blood bank and also visit one of the hospitals buying blood from him.
“The illegal blood bank was uncovered after the last victim was hospitalised. Adesanya became weak after donating four pints of blood, collapsed and is currently receiving treatment at the Bariga Hospital. The mother told us that the daughter’s friend informed them of Adesanya’s condition after she saw him on a bike looking like a corpse. Upon arrest, the illegal blood vendor confessed to sell blood to a hospital here in Lagos for 7,000 naira” the police Commissioner said.The suspect further stated that the victim told him that he was 20 years old.“It was until the parents came to confront me that I knew he was 17 years old”. According to the suspect, a Benue State indigene, he was trained as a lab scientist at the Nigerian Institute of Science Technology in Plateau. “I am a trained technician and I’ve been operating the illegal blood bank for five years now,” he confessed.
The CP has directed that all those buying blood from the suspect to be investigated and arrested because they run an illegal blood bank. The blood was not screened of HIV, Hepatitis among others.