The Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, has fixed March 10, 2026, for the hearing of an appeal filed by the Medical Director of Excel Medical Centre, Dr Ferdinand Ejike Orji, challenging his conviction and one-year jail sentence by the Lagos State High Court.
The appellate court will also hear a cross appeal by the Lagos State Government seeking to set aside the portion of the judgment that discharged and acquitted Dr Orji on Count 1 of the six-count amended charge.
The state is asking the court to convict and sentence him on that count as well.
A three-member panel of the appellate court, presided over by Justice Yargata Nimpar, adjourned the case to allow the respondent (the state government) to file its response to the motion by the appellant.
Other members of the panel are Justices Danlami Zama Senchi and Abdulazeez Muhammed Anka.
During Monday’s proceedings, counsel to the appellant, Chief Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN), and counsel to the respondent, Dr Babajide Martins, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for Lagos State, regularised their processes before the court.
Justice Adedayo Akintoye of the Lagos High Court, sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square, had on January 20, 2023, convicted Dr Orji on four of the six counts filed against him and sentenced him to one year imprisonment on each count, to run concurrently.
The offences stemmed from the doctor’s treatment of a 16-year-old boy, a promising basketball player who had returned to Nigeria for a holiday.
The boy suffered a leg fracture and was taken to Excel Medical Centre, Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi, where Dr Orji, who is not an expert in the field, applied a Plaster of Paris (POP) cast.
The prosecution alleged that the doctor’s negligence led to complications that permanently damaged the boy’s leg and ended his dream of pursuing a basketball career in America.
Justice Akintoye found the doctor guilty on counts 2, 3, 4 and 6 but discharged and acquitted him on counts 1 and 5.
In her judgment, she held that the prosecution had proved the essential ingredients of the offences beyond reasonable doubt and that Dr Orji’s conduct fell far below the standard expected of a medical practitioner.
“It is my opinion that the defendant committed a breach of duty as a medical practitioner when he wilfully refused to remove the POP cast on the patient’s left leg despite complaints of severe pain, which resulted in compartment syndrome,” the judge stated.
The trial court found that the cast was applied without an X-ray, without the consent of the patient’s mother, and by unqualified personnel.
The judge noted that the patient was under Dr Orji’s medical care and that his actions endangered the boy’s life.
Consequently, the court sentenced the doctor to one year imprisonment on each of the four counts, to run concurrently.
Dissatisfied with the decision, Dr Orji filed a notice of appeal seeking to overturn his conviction and sentence.
He argued that the prosecution failed to prove criminal intent, a critical element of the alleged offences and that since the court found no intent in count 1, the same reasoning should have applied to the other counts.
He urged the Court of Appeal to set aside his conviction on Counts 2, 3, 4 and 6 and quash the judgment delivered by the trial court.
The state, however, has urged the appellate court to dismiss the appeal, insisting that the evidence before the trial court proved the offences beyond a reasonable doubt.
Dr Martins argued that the doctor’s conduct was negligent and reckless and fell short of the professional standard expected in such circumstances.
