The management of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Ilorin, Kwara State, has seized the corpse of a deceased patient and arrested one of its sons for beating up a medical doctor.
Daily Trust gathered that three family members of the deceased, one Alhaji Saliu, on Tuesday reportedly beat up a medical doctor in the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Wing of the hospital over the alleged nonchalant attitude of medical staff leading to the death of the deceased, who they claimed was their breadwinner.
It was learnt that trouble started shortly after the news of the death of the victim, a butcher, said to be suffering from blood cancer, was announced to the family.
He was allegedly rushed to the facility on Tuesday after he suffered complications when he returned from a business trip.
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Narrating the incident, a relative of the deceased, Mr Abdul, said the hospital had arrested his son, Mustapha, and held on to the corpse because of the incident.
“We rushed Alhaji Saliu to the emergency ward of UITH around some minutes after 5am on Tuesday and despite all our pleading for a doctor to attend to him, nobody obliged us.
“We were surprised to see doctors coming to attend to us several hours later, after a medical personnel who saw our plight, confirmed he was dead.
“That infuriated the relatives and they reacted by descending on one of the doctors that came. Since then, they have vowed not to release the corpse unless we produce other people that beat the doctor,” he said.
When contacted, the Head, Corporate Affairs Unit of the UITH, Mrs Elizabeth Ajiboye, confirmed the development.
“The patient in question was presented late with severe complications.
“Nevertheless, health workers and doctors on duty swung into action but while battling with his life, he convulsed.
“He was stabilised from that stage, prompting the doctors to take over another case requiring emergency attention.
“Three of the patient’s relations pounced on one of the doctors on duty, pinned him to the wall, and punched him severally but he managed to escape from them.
“This led to the arrest of one of patient’s relatives by the security operatives attached to the hospital. The other two are being searched for,” she said.
She said the doctors, under the aegis of Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (ARD), are protesting the assault, and urged the management of the hospital against the release of the corpse without arresting and prosecuting the culprits.
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