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By Lukman Olabiyi
Lagos State government has sealed Tower College of Health Sciences, located in Gberigbe, Ikorodu, for operating an illegal nursing programme without proper accreditation.
The enforcement exercise, carried out yesterday, was jointly led by officials of the Lagos State Directorate of Nursing Services (DNS), the Nursing and Midwifery Committee of Lagos State, and the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Lagos State branch, with support from the Lagos State Rapid Response Squad (RRS).
During the operation, the director of the college, Femi Ajekigbe, was arrested and taken into custody for questioning and further legal action.
Speaking after the closure, the director of Nursing Services, Ministry of Health, Sola Aketi, said the institution had been previously warned following an inspection visit by the Nursing and Midwifery Committee on January 20, 2025, which uncovered several irregularities.
According to Aketi, the inspection team, led by Oladapo Olawale, including Ilawole, Ayobami Amusan and Idowu Osuntuyi, found that Tower College failed to meet even the basic academic and infrastructural standards required for nursing education.
The school, she confirmed, had no accreditation from the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN).
“As a result of this closure, the illegal institution will cease all nursing training and educational activities with immediate effect.
“We have several of these schools across the state, and we will not stop until they are all shut down. Any further operation of the college will be considered unauthorized and dangerous to the people of Ikorodu and Lagos in general,”Aketi stated.
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She warned that the proliferation of unapproved health institutions posed a serious threat to public safety and weakened the state’s healthcare delivery system.
Aketi added that the government has established an anti-quackery team to identify and shut down all illegal health training centres across Lagos.
Olawale, who led the initial inspection in January, reported that the school had no demonstration room, no hospital affiliations for clinical postings, and no hostel accommodation for students some of who were already in their 300 level despite having no clinical training or resource verification from the NMCN.
His report recommended the immediate closure of the school, the withdrawal of all students, and the revocation of licenses of individuals falsely parading themselves as qualified nursing tutors.
Following the report, the Nursing and Midwifery Committee of Lagos State and the Lagos State Ministry of Health issued a formal closure notice dated February 20, 2025, signed by Olawale.
The notice cited the college’s failure to meet minimum accreditation standards, its non-compliance with repeated warnings, and its substandard training methods that posed risks to public health and safety.
The premises have since been sealed and placed under surveillance to prevent further unauthorized activities. Authorities warned that any attempt to reopen the institution would attract legal consequences.
“This is Lagos. We will not tolerate quackery or substandard health education that endangers lives,”Aketi emphasized
