How Ekiti teacher’s two kidneys were illegally removed at teaching hospital

A 39-year-old teacher, Joshua Afolayan, has alleged that a routine surgery at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti, left him without both kidneys, forcing him into chronic pain and lifelong dependence on dialysis.

Afolayan, who works with the Ekiti State Teaching Service Commission, told The PUNCH that his ordeal began after he was involved in a road accident in August 2025 and was rushed to the teaching hospital for treatment.

According to him, several medical tests and scans conducted at the hospital revealed that his right kidney was damaged and no longer functioning, while his left kidney was confirmed to be healthy.

He said doctors recommended the removal of the damaged right kidney, a decision he and his family consented to after assurances that the left kidney was functioning normally.

“It was a nephrectomy, which was the removal of the kidney that was not good,” Afolayan said. “My right kidney was not functioning, but the left one was working 100 per cent, and that was what informed the surgery.”

However, Afolayan claimed that after the operation, his condition deteriorated significantly, prompting further medical investigations that raised disturbing questions.

“We did two scans after the surgery, but they did not release any of the results to us,” he said. “That raised suspicion before we eventually discovered that there was no kidney in my body anymore.”

He alleged that hospital officials later changed their explanation, claiming that he had a horseshoe kidney — a rare condition where the kidneys are joined together — an assertion he said contradicted all pre-surgery scan results.

“We did scans before the surgery, and none of them showed that the kidneys were joined together,” he said. “They were confused, and later they said it was a horseshoe kidney.”

Afolayan said the conflicting explanations compelled him to take the matter to social media, after which the Ekiti State Government reportedly set up a panel of inquiry on December 8, 2025, to investigate the incident.

Despite the panel’s intervention, he lamented that his condition has continued to worsen, alleging that the hospital has failed to provide adequate care beyond free dialysis sessions.

“Aside from free dialysis, I am not receiving any intensive care, despite how critical my condition is,” he said.

The teacher, who is now dependent on regular dialysis to survive, appealed to the state government for urgent intervention, describing his situation as life-threatening.

“I want to live like others; I want to be able to eat, drink, urinate, go to bed and sleep like others,” he said. “I’m 39 years old. I have a wife and three children, and I want to be able to take care of them.”