Telerobotic Surgery in Nigeria: Surgeon Removes Kidney Tumour 500 km Away
Nigeria · Health
Key Facts
- —What happened On Saturday 19 September 2026 a surgeon in Ogun State removed a cancerous kidney from a patient in Abuja by remote-controlled robot.
- —Who did it Redeemer’s Health Village, a church-founded hospital, worked with RoboMed Global and Abuja’s Nisa Premier Hospital.
- —The machine A Toumai surgical robot made by China’s Shanghai MicroPort MedBot; its Nigerian approval was announced in late December 2025.
- —How it went The operation took about three hours with short pauses for system checks; the patient was reported in good condition.
- —The catch The “first in West Africa” label is the hospital’s own; Morocco and Angola hosted African telesurgeries in 2025.
- —Why it matters Nigerians often travel abroad for complex operations; telerobotic surgery could bring scarce specialists to them instead.
A surgeon sat at a console near Lagos while a robot 500 kilometres away in Abuja removed a cancerous kidney. The hospital behind this telerobotic surgery calls it West Africa’s first.
A surgeon in Ogun State, next door to Lagos, has removed a cancerous kidney from a patient in Abuja using telerobotic surgery. The two hospitals are about 500 kilometres apart.
The operation took place on Saturday 19 September 2026, according to the News Agency of Nigeria, the state news agency. Its organisers call it the first telesurgery in West Africa.
For a country whose wealthier patients often fly abroad for complex operations, the pitch is simple. The specialist no longer has to be in the room.
A console in Ogun, a patient in Abuja
The surgeon sat at a robotic console at Redeemer’s Health Village in Mowe, Ogun State. The patient lay in an operating theatre at Nisa Premier Hospital, a private hospital in the capital, Abuja.
Redeemer’s Health Village is a 300-bed hospital founded by the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of Nigeria’s largest Pentecostal churches. Journalists watched the procedure live on screens there.
The operation was a right radical nephrectomy, the removal of the whole right kidney. The kidney carried a cancerous tumour, the agency reported.
It was led by Obi Davies-Ekwenna, a United States-based professor of urology and transplant surgery. He co-founded RoboMed Global, the company behind the robotic programme.
“We were able to operate on a patient in Abuja, 500 kilometres away,” he told reporters, Punch reported.
Mowe and Abuja lie roughly 500 kilometres apart in a straight line. By road the journey is far longer.
Three hours, with pauses for checks
Davies-Ekwenna said the operation lasted about three hours. The team paused briefly several times to confirm that equipment and systems were working properly.
He said the patient was in good condition and was expected to go home within 24 hours.
In telerobotic surgery, the surgeon’s hand movements travel over a data link to the robot. Nigerian outlets Leadership and Pulse, citing reports, said the link used Starlink satellite internet, with the mobile operator MTN as backup.
Davies-Ekwenna summed up the case, the News Agency of Nigeria reported. “Distance should never decide who receives safe surgery; this is what safe and trusted surgery looks like.”
Earlier the same day, the Mowe team performed a robot-assisted pyeloplasty on a 28-year-old woman. That operation repairs a blockage that stops urine draining from the kidney.
A Chinese robot approved in Nigeria
The machine is a Toumai surgical robot made by Shanghai MicroPort MedBot, a Chinese manufacturer. Its approval for clinical use by NAFDAC, Nigeria’s drug and medical-device regulator, was announced at the end of December 2025.
The operators presented that approval as the first for a robotic surgery platform in West Africa. The announcement followed robotic operations at Nisa Premier Hospital on 22 November 2025, Vanguard reported.
Ibrahim Wada, who founded and runs Nisa Premier, said his patient had received expert care “without leaving Abuja”, Nigeria Info reported. He added that Nigerian institutions could achieve more by building together.
Who is claiming a first
The “first telesurgery in West Africa” description comes from Adedamola Dada, chief executive of Redeemer’s Health Village. His hospital and its partners carried out the operation.
Telerobotic surgery itself is not new to the continent. On 2 May 2025, Moroccan hospital group Akdital linked Casablanca with Laâyoune, more than 1,100 kilometres away, for a prostate operation.
On 14 June 2025, Vipul Patel of AdventHealth in Florida operated on a man in Luanda, Angola. That link spanned nearly 7,000 miles, or about 11,000 kilometres.
MicroPort MedBot says the Angola case also used a Toumai robot. Neither earlier case took place in West Africa.
Manpower, not machines, is the bottleneck
Dada told reporters that equipment was rarely the obstacle, Punch reported. “The challenge now is the manpower,” he said, urging the federal government to fund scholarships for trainees.
He argued that remote operations could let surgeons abroad treat Nigerians at home. “This is a new day for our country,” he told reporters, Vanguard reported.
The hospital is setting up a robotic academy with RoboMed Global. Davies-Ekwenna said it aims to train at least 150 surgeons within two years.
He said the programme had the support of the health minister and other government bodies. He also appealed for backing from private companies and charities.
What could slow it down
Dada acknowledged that weather can disrupt connectivity. He said the quality of equipment and the supply of trained staff also decide whether telesurgery works.
The hospital’s board chairman, Kunle Onakoya, stressed that the robot does not act alone. “The robot is still being controlled by a human being,” he told reporters, Vanguard reported.
More: Africa coverage, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is telerobotic surgery?
It is an operation in which the surgeon controls a surgical robot from a console in another place. The surgeon’s movements travel over a data link to robotic arms beside the patient, while a local team stands by in the operating theatre.
What happened in Nigeria on 19 September 2026?
A surgeon at Redeemer’s Health Village in Mowe, Ogun State, removed the cancerous right kidney of a patient at Nisa Premier Hospital in Abuja. The two sites are about 500 kilometres apart, and the operation took about three hours.
Was it really the first in West Africa?
The claim comes from the chief executive of Redeemer’s Health Village, one of the hospitals involved. Earlier African telesurgeries took place in Morocco in May 2025 and Angola in June 2025, neither of which is in West Africa.
Which robot was used?
A Toumai surgical robot made by Shanghai MicroPort MedBot of China. Its approval for clinical use by Nigeria’s regulator, NAFDAC, was announced at the end of December 2025.
Sources: News Agency of Nigeria report via P.M. News, Punch on the Mowe control room, Vanguard on the press briefing, Leadership on the date and connectivity, Tribune on the hospitals, Nigeria Info on Nisa Premier Hospital, Vanguard on the NAFDAC approval, AdventHealth on the Florida–Angola telesurgery, Yabiladi on Morocco’s first telesurgery
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
Read More from The Rio Times