UI medicine dropout needs medical attention, says Physician

DE-ELLZ Women & Children Hospital Medical Director, Olarenwaju Ekujimi, said that the 500-level medicine dropout of UI, identified as Terhemen Anongo, who castrated himself, needs serious medical psychiatry and psychological help.

It was earlier reported that Anongo had performed a medical procedure on himself for the second time to remove his second testicles. Anongo claimed that he did it because he needed to do away with his sexual urges since he did not have a wife, and did not want to go against his religious beliefs.

However, Olarenwaju Ekujimi said that Anongo’s action was probably caused by excessive sexual desires or low sexual libido, which might have led to depression and phycological trauma and his condition may have been compounded by religious indoctrination as well.

“The truth is that it is a two-way thing, he might be having medical challenges with his erection, that embarrasses him all the time, and he is tired of it.

“Erectile dysfunction or inability to achieve an erection is a major issue, and a major cause of depression, and marital disharmony. Gradually, the person enters depression, he is not speaking out, but he can take such drastic steps.

“On the flip side, maybe he has excessive sexual desires which had put him in different troubles, maybe he has been involved in incest and other illicit sexual behaviours.

“He could have been treated if he visited the psychiatry. Some drugs or some psychotherapy could have been administered to reduce it,” he said.

Ekujimi further added that Anongo’s action must have been compounded by religious indoctrination, which might have had a negative impact on his psychological state.

He added that Anongo should have been psychologically examined before he did the procedure on himself.

“The story of smacks of somebody with a psychiatric issue. Ordinarily, he is somebody who should be taken in, and cross-examined properly.

“It is not appropriate to carry out such a dangerous procedure on yourself, in fact, any procedure at all. There is a psychiatric issue here, there are some psychological undertones to such actions,” Ekujimi added.

He also warned that there may be many dangers associated with administering such a procedure as it could lead to damage to a major vessel, an infection, or death.

However, the Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist also stated that Anongo had rendered himself impotent and sterile with grave implications to his reproductive health, but with little or no challenges to his overall health, if the procedure was properly carried out by the medical dropout.

He said, “The most important thing is the fact that the man becomes impotent, at the same time becomes sterile. Impotent means you cannot get an erection, sterile means you cannot impregnate a woman”.

“Besides the effect they have in terms of reproduction and erection, they also affect some metabolic functions. Those metabolic functions may be affected, but they are not life-threatening. There are other hormones that can subsist for it, but they are not vital hormones”.

DE-ELLZ Women & Children Medical Center is situated at Ire-Akari Isolo area of Lagos State.