Ekiti Teacher Cries Out After Alleged Illegal Removal of Both Kidneys During Hospital Surgery

A 39-year-old teacher, Joshua Afolayan, has appealed for urgent help after alleging that both his kidneys were removed without consent during a surgical procedure at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, leaving him in critical condition and dependent on regular dialysis to survive.

Afolayan, who is employed by the Ekiti State Teaching Service Commission, said his ordeal began in August 2025 after he was involved in a road accident while returning from work. He was rushed to the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital for medical treatment, where doctors conducted several scans and tests.

According to him, the medical team informed him and his family that his right kidney was damaged and no longer functioning, while the left kidney was healthy. He said the doctors recommended the removal of the damaged kidney, a decision he agreed to after assurances that the other kidney was functioning properly.

“I had an accident on my way from work, so I was taken to the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital for treatment,” Afolayan said. “After about four scans, it was discovered that one of my kidneys was not functioning and needed to be removed. We all agreed because we were told the other kidney was 100 per cent okay.”

He explained that the procedure was a nephrectomy, specifically meant to remove only the damaged right kidney. However, after the surgery, he said his condition worsened instead of improving, and hospital officials failed to release the results of post-surgery scans.

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

Afolayan alleged that when confronted, hospital officials gave conflicting explanations, later claiming he had a horseshoe kidney, a rare condition in which both kidneys are joined together. He strongly disputed this claim, insisting that none of the scans conducted before the surgery indicated such a condition.

“They later changed it to say that I had a horseshoe kidney, meaning the kidneys were joined together,” he said. “We did scans before the surgery, and none of them showed that my kidneys were joined together. They were confused.”

Following his public outcry on social media, Afolayan said the Ekiti State Government set up an investigative panel on December 8, 2025, to probe the incident. Despite this, he said he has not received adequate medical care and remains in a fragile state.

“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.”

He added that the hospital has only provided free dialysis but no intensive medical support, despite the severity of his condition. Afolayan warned that the lack of urgent intervention could be life-threatening and appealed to the Ekiti State Government, relevant authorities, and well-meaning Nigerians for help to save his life.