Patient disappears from Ogun hospital, family blames nurses

The family members of a 40-year-old woman, Mrs.
Ajarat Muritala, who was on admission at the
Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital,
Sagamu, Ogun State, have blamed her
disappearance from the hospital’s female ward on
the negligence of the nurses.
They also lamented that police investigation into
her disappearance was at snail pace, saying no
progress had been made in finding the woman
since she went missing on October 12.
About six nurses were reportedly with the woman
and other patients in the ward before she was
discovered missing.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Ajarat was receiving
treatment on a heart related disease at the OOUTH.
The mother of four children was said to have gone
into a coma on October 11 and was admitted to the
emergency and accident ward of the hospital.
Our correspondent gathered that she was later
taken to the female ward, where she went missing
after regaining consciousness.
Her husband, Mr. Muftau Muritala, said the hospital
management had not shown concern for her
whereabouts.
He said, “She was supposed to go for treatment at
the hospital on October 19. But on October 11, her
condition got worse. We rushed her to the hospital
and I was told to pay N10,000 admission fee, which
I did.
“She was placed on oxygen all through that day. In
the evening, I went to pay for a scan she was to
have the following day. At about 10am the next
day, some nurses wheeled her into the X-ray centre
for a scan.
“She was taken to the female ward after the scan. A
doctor came to attend to her and she was served a
meal. After she finished eating, she said she
wanted to rest. Her elder sister, my second wife and
my mother, were with her in the ward. They were
later told to go outside.
“I went into the ward around 12pm to check her but
she was not on her sick bed. There were about six
nurses in that ward. They told me to check her in
the toilet.
“My relatives outside joined me and we searched
everywhere but we couldn’t find her. We rushed to
the gate to inform the security men and they said
they didn’t see any patient. Meanwhile, the nurses
didn’t help us to search for her until they handed
over to their colleagues on afternoon duty.”
PUNCH Metro learnt that the incident was reported
at the Sagamu Police Division around 3pm and the
chief security officer of the hospital and the nurses
on duty were quizzed by the police.
The Chief Medical Director of the hospital was said
to have begged for the release of the suspects,
allegedly promising to find the patient within 24
hours. He, however, did not produce the victim
within the period.
“Probably, the police are not handling the case
with due diligence because the hospital is owned
by the state government. They keep on telling me
the case is under investigation. The nurses are
supposed to be detained,” the husband added.
Ajarat’s elder sister, Mrs. Khadijat Abdullahi, said
she could not fathom the circumstances leading to
her disappearance.
Muftau’s brother, Taofiq Muritala, a lawyer, said his
chamber had petitioned the Ogun State
Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, to
thoroughly investigate the case.
He said, “We urge the police to investigate this
issue of mysterious and sudden disappearance of
the patient at a government’s hospital. The nurses
on the instruction of the CMD, have since assumed
their duties, leaving the search in the hands of the
family alone. This raises our suspicion that there is
more to this issue than meets the eye.”
The CMD, Prof. Alfred Jaiyesimi, in a text message
to our correspondent, said he was not authorised to
speak on the case.
“As a public officer, I am precluded from expressing
opinions or statements to the press or media.
Kindly respect this public service rule,” he said.
Calls made to the line of the Ogun State
Commissioner for Health, Babatunde Ipaye, rang
out.
He had also yet to reply to a text message sent to
him on the incident as of press time.
But the state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP
Abimbola Oyeyemi, said, “The State Criminal
Investigation and Intelligence Department has taken
over the case.
“The SCIID wrote the hospital to release those
nurses on duty for investigation. We are still
investigating the matter.”

Culled from PUNCH