A laboratory technician has been arrested by the Delta State Police Command for allegedly operating an illegal blood bank from a hairdresser’s salon and selling unscreened blood to other laboratory technicians.
Penpushing reports that the Delta State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Bright Edafe, made this known in a video posted on X , where he paraded and interviewed the suspect, with display of about eight pints of blood on a table.
The police spokesperson who identified the principal suspect as 40-year-old Adeje Uchenna, 40, said, was a certified laboratory technician who allegedly supplied blood obtained without proper medical screening.
Penpushing further reports that Edafe recalled that the other day, the command arrested a suspect who was operating an illegal blood bank, adding that Uchenna was latest suspect gotten by the command,
The police image maker disclosed that the suspect had approached the salon owner in June last year after losing his job and requested to use her facility to collect blood, adding that the suspect allegedly targeted vulnerable youths, where he got a pint of blood at N5,000 and sold it to other technicians between N15,000 and N17,000.
“He collected blood from vulnerable youth who are either into drugs… He obtained blood without running screening or knowing their PCV level. One would wonder how someone is HIV positive, and you wouldn’t know it is as a result of blood that has been taken unprofessionally,” he said.
Penpushing also reports that Edafe warned that such practices could expose patients to deadly infections, however, in the video, the suspect said he studied at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, graduating in 2008, and obtained his professional license in 2011, but he admitted that the trade was illegal.
The police spokesperson explained that for avoidance of doubt, Section 53 of the National Health Act, 2014, prohibits the sale or dredging of blood tissue or blood product, disclosing that four other suspects, including the hairdresser whose salon was used for the operation, were also arrested.
Penpushing reports that one of the laboratory technicians, allegedly patronising the suspect, said the blood was screened only after it arrived at their facility rather than at the point of collection.
The Nigeria’s National Health Act, 2014, however, regulates the collection, storage, and use of human blood and tissues, and under the law, the sale or commercial trading of blood and blood products is prohibited.
Penpushing further reports that the act emphasized that any person who contravenes the provision commits an offence and may face a fine of up to N100,000, imprisonment for up to one year, or both upon conviction.
The law in same vein, requires blood banks to operate only with proper authorisation and in accordance with regulatory guidelines issued by health authorities, and violating these standards or operating a blood bank without approval attracts legal sanctions.
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