A 38-year-old mother of 10, Barira Alhassan, has accused the Gombe State Specialist Hospital of removing one of her kidneys during a Caesarean section (CS), an allegation the hospital has strongly denied, insisting that medical evidence suggests she may have been born with only one kidney.
The claim has stirred public concern in Gombe State, with the woman’s family demanding an independent investigation to establish the facts surrounding her condition.
Barira said she was admitted to the Gombe State Specialist Hospital on April 8, 2026, after developing complications during labour. According to her, doctors informed her family that she could not deliver naturally and advised an emergency Caesarean section.
She said the operation was successful and she gave birth to her baby, but her health began to deteriorate shortly after she was discharged from the hospital.
According to the mother of 10, she started experiencing persistent vomiting, abdominal pain, body swelling and severe pain whenever she attempted to urinate.
“After the operation, I became seriously ill. I was vomiting, my stomach was hurting, my body became swollen and I felt severe pain whenever I wanted to urinate,” she said.
Initially, Barira believed the symptoms were part of the normal recovery process following a Caesarean section. However, she became worried when her condition failed to improve.
“I started asking women who had undergone Caesarean sections whether they experienced what I was going through, but most of them said they did not,” she said.
She said further medical examinations later revealed that she had only one kidney.
“I was shocked when the doctor told me that I had only one kidney. He even asked whether I had sold it,” she alleged.
Barira insisted that she had never undergone any surgical procedure in her life apart from the Caesarean section and had never been informed that she was born with only one kidney.
“All I want is justice and for the truth to come out. I want a proper investigation to establish how I allegedly lost my kidney,” she said.
Her elder brother, Zakariyya Alhassan, said the family became alarmed after comparing previous medical records with recent findings.
According to him, medical investigations conducted in 2015 reportedly showed that Barira had two healthy kidneys, while recent examinations conducted after the surgery indicated that she now has only one.
He said the family approached the management of the hospital seeking clarification but was not satisfied with the explanations provided.
“Our father personally went to the hospital to ask questions about what happened, but he was not given a satisfactory explanation. What he wants to know is how his daughter allegedly lost her kidney,” he said.
Zakariyya added that the family subsequently petitioned the Gombe State Ministry of Health, requesting a thorough and transparent investigation into the matter.
Barira’s husband, Malam Babayo Muhammad, popularly known as Auwalu Mai Lemo Pantami, also expressed concern over the circumstances surrounding the surgery.
He said his wife had delivered all her previous children naturally and had never undergone surgery before the operation in April.
According to him, doctors recommended both the Caesarean section and a procedure to prevent future pregnancies because of complications associated with the delivery.
Babayo said family members became worried when the surgery lasted for nearly two and a half hours.
“She was taken into the theatre around 10pm and was brought out around 12:30am. We were worried because the operation appeared to take longer than what we had heard from other women who underwent similar procedures,” he said.
He further claimed that his wife appeared weak and unresponsive immediately after the operation and later developed swelling, weakness, frequent urination and difficulty walking.
The family said a CT scan sponsored by the hospital confirmed that Barira currently has only one kidney.
Babayo disclosed that her condition later worsened, leading to her admission at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe, where she is receiving treatment.
“She started vomiting again, experienced body tremors and became very weak. She was later admitted at the Federal Teaching Hospital where she is still receiving treatment,” he said.
Responding to the allegation, the Gombe State Specialist Hospital dismissed the claim as unfounded and unsupported by available medical evidence.
In a statement, the hospital management said records from the operating theatre showed that Barira underwent only an emergency Caesarean section and no procedure involving the removal of a kidney was carried out.
The hospital explained that Caesarean sections are performed in the lower abdominal region and do not involve the kidneys, which are located in a different anatomical area of the body.
According to the management, medical investigations conducted at the Federal Teaching Hospital suggested that Barira may have a congenital solitary kidney—a condition in which an individual is born with only one kidney and may live a normal life without knowing it.
The hospital also stated that it took the family’s concerns seriously and sponsored additional investigations, including a CT scan, in an effort to establish the facts.
It added that another medical assessment requested by the family at a private health facility is still pending.
While maintaining that no kidney was removed during the Caesarean section, the hospital urged members of the public to allow ongoing investigations to run their course.
As the controversy continues, the family insists that only an independent inquiry and a comprehensive review of past medical records and recent diagnostic findings can determine whether Barira was born with one kidney or lost it at some point in her life.
For now, the mystery remains unresolved, with both the family and hospital standing firmly by their positions while awaiting the outcome of further investigations.
