The father of 11-year-old Favour Okechukwu, who was gang-raped to death in October by suspected cultists, has recounted how he was asked to pay N40,000 to get an autopsy report and another N10,000 for COVID-19 test.
Favour was gang-raped in a room at the Ejigbo area of Lagos by five cult suspects and left to bleed to death.
Three persons including the nurse, who the police said was invited to administer injection on the girl by the suspects, were arrested while three others are still at large.
44-year-old John Okechukwu in a chat with Eko Trust expressed fears that justice might not come his daughter’s way as he claimed that the policemen charged with the investigation are not willing to do a thorough job.
“The body of my daughter was actually deposited at the mortuary by the police and we still paid money for COVID-19 test and autopsy. I am pained because I have lost a daughter,” he said.
He also noted that the nurse who allegedly injected her daughter has been granted bail.
“It is a known fact that the nurse is notorious in the area. She does not own any hospital yet she is called in to treat rape victims by the gang. Is she not an accomplice in the death of my daughter?, “ he queried.
Okechukwu appealed to the Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, to keep to his promise by bringing those responsible for the death of his daughter to book.
“I also want the judiciary to also expedite action as every day we go to court or the morgue to see the body of my daughter reminds me of the painful death she went through,” he said.
When contacted, Macaulay Ibukun, Head of the Mortuary attendants at Isolo General Hospital, said the money collected was not for autopsy but for the usage of the hospital facility.
He said autopsy is free, but embalmment and the usage of the facility accounted for the N40,000, which the hospital authority collected from the deceased parents.
On the N10,000 COVID-19 test, he said the money was for the transport fare of the medical personnel who would come from Yaba to Isolo General Hospital to carry out the test.
“We charge N50,000 for adults but we collected N40,000 from them considering the circumstances surrounding the death of their child and the deceased was a minor.
“Normally, we collect the sum of N1,400 as daily charge for the use of the facility and if you calculate N1,400 since the two months the corpse was deposited in this facility, you will realise that we did not charge them,” he said.
