Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Dr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) has requested a coroner’s inquest into the suspicious death of a Lagos chef, Mrs Peju Ugboma, who died at a Lagos hospital following a surgical operation.
Ugboma, 41, who is famous for her Lagos Menu “I luv desserts”, was reported to have died on April 25 at the Premier Specialist Hospital in Victoria Island, Lagos, after undergoing an elective hysterectomy surgery.
The Lagos State Government, in its official Twitter account, has directed the Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency to conduct a proper investigation into the death of the chef as more than 3,000 people have signed an online petition urging it to act.
In a statement on Tuesday in Lagos, Agbakoba, who is the lead counsel in the case, said that having been briefed by the family of the deceased, he had taken steps to request an inquest to determine the cause of the death.
He said his law firm had already requested an independent autopsy for which the report was awaited, while petitions had been sent to the office of the Attorney General of Lagos State, the Consumers Protection Council, Nigeria Medical Association and state House of Assembly amongst others.
Agbakoba said that a petition to the Homicide Department of the Nigeria Police, Panti was also under consideration.
“We have also sent a letter to the Executive Secretary, Lagos State Health Facilities, Monitoring and Accreditation Agency, requesting an inspection of the hospital’s facilities as well as requesting a temporary closure of the hospital.
“We request inspection of the hospital’s facilities, as well as a confirmation of the hospital’s licence and accreditation to perform a major operation.
“Hysterectomy is a major surgery carrying the possibility of blood clots, severe infections, hemorrhage, bowel obstruction or urinary tract injury.
“Premier Hospital had no CT scan equipment and blood bank when it carried out the operation on the chef.
“A thorough investigation of Ugboma’s death will be conducted; doctors ought to be held accountable for medical negligence and malpractices,” he said.
The husband of the deceased, Mr I.J Ugboma said the family not only sought justice for their daughter but also for thousands of victims of the faulty healthcare system.
