Nigerian Govt Expands Abuja Fertility Doctor Abebe’s Charges To 12, Alleges Negligent Treatment, False Information | Sahara Reporters

The amended charges were filed on July 21, 2026, at the registry of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The Federal Government has expanded the criminal case against Abuja-based fertility doctor, Pastor John Onuwabhagbe Abebe, from three to 12 counts, with the amended charges introducing allegations of negligent medical treatment and giving false information to police investigators.

Abebe, who is also a pastor with the Living Faith Church, popularly known as Winners’ Chapel, Durumi, Abuja, is charged alongside his hospital, Joje Abebe Fertility Centre Limited, and Balikis Olanike Bakare, who was not listed as a defendant in the original three-count charge.

The amended charges were filed on July 21, 2026, at the registry of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Last Friday, Abebe’s lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, said the Federal Government had not filed any fresh criminal charges against his client.

However, the amended filing expands the original three-count case to 12 counts and adds Bakare as a defendant, while introducing additional allegations concerning the treatment of Mary Manga and alleged false information provided to police investigators.

The original three-count charge had already accused Abebe and his hospital of unlawful disclosure of confidential medical records, defrauding Manga and her husband of N19 million and unlawfully selling some of their human embryos.

The most notable new allegation appears in Count 12, in which the Federal Government accused Abebe and his hospital of rashly and negligently administering, or causing to be administered, inappropriate or wrong drugs to Manga.

The prosecution alleged that between July 2024 and July 2025, while providing medical treatment to Manga, Abebe failed to exercise the degree of professional care, skill and diligence required by law.

According to the charge, he also allegedly refused to administer the right and appropriate drugs and medical treatment to her and failed to comply with his statutory obligations under Sections 23 and 24 of the National Health Act, 2014.

The prosecution alleged that the conduct resulted in Manga suffering “severe illness, deterioration of her health, physical pain, emotional trauma and the cessation of her menstrual cycle from January 2025 to date.”

It further alleged that the conduct endangered her “life and personal safety.”

The alleged offence is said to be contrary to and punishable under Sections 303 and 343 of the Penal Code Act.

Counts Nine to 11 introduce allegations involving Abebe, his hospital and Bakare and their dealings with investigators attached to the Special Tactical Squad of the Force Intelligence Department of the Nigeria Police Force.

According to Count Nine, the three defendants allegedly conspired to mislead investigators concerning the IVF surrogacy programme involving Manga and her husband, Adamu Hassan.

The prosecution alleged that they claimed that two male embryos belonging to the couple had been transferred to a purported surrogate mother, Miss Joy Ene Pius, on July 9, 2025, “while knowing” that the transfer did not take place.

Count 10 similarly accused the defendants of agreeing to provide false information to investigators by representing that the two male embryos had been transferred to Pius on July 9, 2025.

The charge alleged that the defendants knew the representation was false.

In Count 11, the prosecution alleged that the defendants knowingly gave investigators false information that the two male embryos had been transferred to Pius, intending to mislead the police in the discharge of their duties.

The alleged offences under the three counts relate to Sections 97 and 140 of the Penal Code Act.

Although the amended charge contains detailed allegations concerning the alleged sale and misappropriation of the couple’s embryos, the allegation was already part of the original three-count case.

The amended charge alleges that Abebe and his hospital had custody of 12 human embryos, five male and seven female, belonging to Hassan and Manga.

The prosecution alleged that nine of the embryos, comprising two male and seven female embryos, were unlawfully sold or otherwise dealt with for valuable consideration.

The amended counts also accuse Abebe of dishonestly converting the nine embryos to his own use by selling them without the couple’s consent and of misappropriating embryos entrusted to him in the course of his professional duties.

One of the counts alleged that the embryos were entrusted to Abebe on the understanding that they would be preserved for the couple’s reproductive use, but that he allegedly disposed of nine of them “for financial benefit.”

The amended charge also retains the allegations relating to the alleged N19 million fraud and disclosure of the couple’s medical records.

In one count, the prosecution alleged that Abebe and his hospital deceived Manga and her husband into paying N19 million between January and May 2025 under the alleged pretext that he was specialised in IVF.

The prosecution alleged that he had reason to believe he was not skilled in the field and converted the money.

In the counts concerning medical confidentiality, Abebe and his hospital were accused of attaching the couple’s medical history to a document titled “Re: Demand/Pre-action Notice” from the law firm of Fabunmi and Co.

The prosecution alleged that the document was received and read by a security guard at another law firm and was subsequently exposed to other members of the public.

The charge alleged that the disclosure caused the affected persons to suffer trauma and constituted an offence under Section 29 of the National Health Act, 2014.

The amended charges followed the takeover of the case by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN.

The AGF took over the case from the Inspector-General of Police on June 18, 2026, when the matter came up for hearing.

The takeover reportedly followed the refusal of the former Commander of the Special Tactical Squad, Dauda Iliya Ayuba, to arraign Abebe on February 19, 2026.

Abebe and Joje Abebe Hospital Limited had earlier been arraigned before Justice Akeem A. Fashola of Court 31, Jabi, Abuja, on March 11, 2026, on the original three-count charge and were granted bail.

The original case accused Abebe of unlawful disclosure of the couple’s confidential medical records, defrauding them of N19 million and the alleged sale of their embryos.

Sources at the FCT High Court said all parties were present in court that day, but Justice Fashola attended to other matters while Abebe’s case was allegedly omitted from the cause list.

The court registry subsequently gave October 28, 2026 as the new date for the arraignment of the defendants on the amended charges.