A doctor, identified as Idara Bassey, has been declared wanted by the Lagos State Police Command in connection with the death of a 36-year-old lady simply identified as Abiola, who died during a buttocks enlargement procedure at a clinic in the Lekki Phase 1 area of the state.
The state police command spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed this on Thursday.
The deceased had visited the clinic for a buttocks enlargement procedure, which took a fatal turn after a nurse (name withheld), allegedly acting on Bassey’s orders, administered an injection.
Commonly known as a Brazilian Butt Lift, the procedure is a form of cosmetic surgery that involves extracting fat from other areas of the body and injecting it into the buttocks to create a fuller, rounder appearance.
Before the incident, medical experts had cautioned about the potential side effects of the procedure. However, numerous videos have emerged online of women, particularly in Lagos, claiming to have successfully undergone the surgery.
It was gathered that the deceased had reportedly departed from her home in the Diamond Estate, Sangotedo, in the Ibeju Lekki area of the state, instructing her driver to take her to the clinic for the procedure on Monday.
After the nurse allegedly administered the injection, following the doctor’s instructions, the driver who had brought the lady to the clinic informed the police that she (Abiola) lost consciousness and began gasping for breath.
While the police informed our correspondent that the nurse who administered the injection had been arrested, Hundeyin revealed that the clinic’s owner was currently on the run.
“The clinic’s owner is on the run,” he stated.
When asked whether the fleeing doctor had been declared wanted by the police, Hundeyin confirmed this, stating that the doctor was still considered a “suspect” in the case.
“She’s on the run. Of course, she’s a suspect,” Hundeyin added.
A 31-year-old British woman named Melissa Kerr also died at the private Medicana Kadikoy Hospital in Istanbul in 2019 during a similar surgery.
The British Broadcasting Corporation, citing a coroner, reported in 2023 that the deceased had not been provided with sufficient information to assess the risks associated with the BBL surgery before travelling for the procedure.