Woman wants autopsy on daughter who died in dad’s custody

A woman, Mrs Mary Bamlong, has demanded an independent autopsy to ascertain the cause of the death her daughter, Irene Naanswan Bamlong, who she said was staying with her ex-husband,  Dr Nicholas Daboaer, in Gwagwalada, Abuja.

Daily Trust learnt that Dr Daboaer is the outgoing chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee (CMAN) of the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH), Gwagwalada.

• Grazing route review: Ortom threatens legal action against Buhari
• PODCAST: Can Boko Haram take over Nigeria like Taliban did in Afghanistan?

Mrs Bamlong, while speaking with our reporter in Gwagwalada Sunday, said she was yet to be convinced about the cause of the death of her daughter.

She claimed that since she separated with her husband over 11 years ago he had denied her and all her relations access to their four children.

She said, “I received a phone call from my immediate younger brother that one of my daughters staying with my ex-husband was sick, and upon enquiry, I was told that my daughter was dead and was in the mortuary at the specialist hospital.”

She further said she immediately left Nasarawa State where she was receiving treatment and rushed to the hospital’s mortuary but was denied access to see her daughter’s corpse, and that she proceeded to report at the police station in the area, demanding an independent autopsy to ascertain the cause of her daughter’s death.

Mrs Bamlong said, “As I am talking to you right now, I have informed my lawyer about it as I want an autopsy to be conducted to know the real cause of my daughter’s death.”

When contacted through telephone, Dr Daboaer said since his ex-wife has reported the matter to the police and it is under investigation, our reporter should wait for the outcome of the investigation.

Our reporter insisted that there was need to hear from him in order to balance the story but he replied that “when the investigation is concluded, I am sure you will hear from me whatever it is; but I will advise that if you want to speak with me, you to create time to see me as I am bereaved and not in the good mood to talk now. This is not the right time to talk.”