Nigerians on social media are calling for sanctions against the Maitama General Hospital in Abuja for denying Greatness Olorunfemi, a robbery victim who was stabbed and pushed out of a moving vehicle, emergency healthcare services.
On September 26, Olorunfemi was reportedly stabbed and thrown out of a moving vehicle along the Maitama-Kubwa highway. She was afterward rushed to the Maitama General Hospital, but instead of providing urgent care, the hospital shut its door against her.
Olorunfemi bled to death.
The circumstances leading to her death have led to an outrage on social media, with many Nigerians criticising the hospital and the value that healthcare practitioners place on the lives of Nigerians.
The social media users, who posted comments on the incident, demanded justice and accountability for Olorunfem’s death.
‘THE HOSPITAL MANAGEMENT MUST BE DEALT WITH’
“Nigeria doesn’t value human life. The hospital should be shut down and held accountable for this,” @DamValrick posted on X.
@EngrDrAkhabue, another X user, wrote, “The GMD of that useless hospital must be sacked, alongside all staff on duty that night. The minister of health must be sued for negligence, and compensation must be paid to the family of that lady.
“Nigeria didn’t happen to this lady. At least she was rushed to a good facility. The people in charge of the facility, from the CMD to the security officer at the gate, all lacked common human sympathy and zero value for life. If it was their loved one, protocol would have been broken.”
“The hospital management must be dealt with,” Ibrahim Daudu Abubakar, yet another user, also posted in response to the incident.
“I fear that this may happen to me or anyone I know, ignored and rejected by a government hospital during an emergency. I am seriously scared and tired of Nigeria. I’m sick and tired of people in this country getting away with actions that cause preventable death,” Shehu Bello, a fourth user, posted.
PAST REJECTION OF GUNSHOT AND STAB WOUND VICTIMS
Hospitals in Nigeria have a history of rejecting victims of stab and gunshot wounds for lack of a police report and most of these incidents have led to multiple avoidable deaths.
In 2021, 27-year-old Abiodun, a disc jockey, was stabbed on his way to the studio in the Ikorodu axis of Lagos.
Like Olorunfemi, Abiodun made it to the hospital but died moments later after being denied treatment by a hospital.
“He died because they wouldn’t treat him. Thank you, Nigeria,” JC Clothings, a user who happened to be Abiodun’s cousin, posted on X.
Uduak Oluyede, a Lagos State resident, died of gunshot wounds in March 2021 at Randle General Hospital, Lagos State, as a result of delays following a request for a police report.
According to an eyewitness report culled from The Guardian, the hospital demanded a police report and for her husband to sign an undertaking. The victim died while the police were still writing the report.
In 2014, National Health Act was passed, stating that “a health care provider, health worker, or health establishment shall not refuse a person emergency medical treatment for any reason, and anyone that goes against the law is liable to a fine of N100, 000, a jail term of six months, or both, upon conviction.”
In 2017, the National Assembly passed the Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshots Bill.
The Act criminalised denial of treatment to gunshot victims for lack of a police report.
However, almost a decade after the National Health Act was passed and six years after the Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshots Bill was also passed and signed into law, new cases of hospitals denying victims emergency healthcare continue to emerge.
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