Suspended Yobe PHC boss admits therapeutic food theft

Mr Ibrahim Lawan, Director of Primary Health Care (PHC) in Nangere Local Government of Yobe, is currently on suspension for diverting Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) and has confessed to committing the crime.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state’s PHC Board has suspended Lawal for “diverting and misusing” the food supplements.

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Mr Adamu Abba, the board’s spokesman, who announced the suspension on Wednesday in Damatutu, said that a five-member committee had been set up to investigate the matter.

Lawan, while reacting to the allegations in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said that he and some staffers of the PHC “actually tampered” with the therapeutic food supplements.

“Actually, I and some of my staffers have tampered with some of the therapeutic food supplements, but the quantity is not as much as they are alleging.

“The allegation was that I diverted about 120 cartons. This is not true.

“However, I take responsibility for all that happened since I was the leader at the time.

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“I am appealing to the state government to tamper justice with mercy, since I have cooperated and made investigation easier for them,” he said

NAN reports that the PHC board, while announcing Lawan’s indefinite suspension, had named Ibrahim Disa as acting director of the PHC in Nangere.

Disa is expected to be on the saddle pending the outcome of the investigation.

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The investigation committee is also expected to recommend a strategy for ensuring accountability in the distribution of supplements and other medical consumables.

NAN reports that RUTF is a packaged, highly nutritious food supplement used in treating severe and acute malnourished children.