According to family members, the most painful part of the tragic story is that the hospital management has denied them access to the body and has been using the police to harass them.
It is now 18 months since the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu seized the corpse of the late Mrs Janet Nwaosu, after allegedly killing her through negligence by its staff members.
According to family members, the most painful part of the tragic story is that the hospital management has denied them access to the body and has been using the police to harass them.
SaharaReporters had reported that the family of the late Romanus Nwaosu of Amaeta village in Mgbowo, Awgu local government area of the state accused one Dr Chibuoke and a nurse of killing their mother, Mrs Janet at the UNTH on October 18, 2022.
The family alleged that the said doctor (Chibuoke) and the nurse had injected their mother with a drug that killed her less than five minutes after injection despite that they were health personnel assigned to take care of her at the hospital.
However, SaharaReporters learnt that a year and six months later, the UNTH Chief Medical Director, Dr Obinna Onodugo, insisted on keeping the body at the hospital.
He had also allegedly ordered that no member of the family should be allowed to see the corpse SaharaReporters has learnt.
Miss Augustina Nwaosu, daughter of the late Janet, who was taking care of her before her death, lamented that instead of showing remorse for the alleged killing of her mother, the Chief Medical Director had continued to threaten her family for demanding justice.
Narrating the event of the past 18 months, and how the CMD had been allegedly using the police to intimidate her family, Augustina said that the CMD had vowed to make life miserable for them for daring to complain about the incident.
Augustina appealed to Nigerians and human rights organisations to come to their aid, noting that the matter had been dragging on at the Police Force Headquarters, Enugu Annex, where the investigation had been stalled for months.
She noted that the former Chairman of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) at UNTH, one Dr Jide Uzoigwe had told her family that they would continue to spend their money while the hospital would frustrate every police investigation into the matter.
Speaking to SaharaReporters on the telephone, Augustina said: "On Sunday, the 16th of October, my mother started stooling and vomiting. We took her to UNTH, at about 2:00 p.m.
"After examination, she was admitted at about 7:00 pm by one Dr Obumneme Emmanuel who also gave some drug prescriptions which we bought at the hospital pharmacy.
"Upon the administration of the medication, she slept off and slept very well that very night.
"On Monday morning, she asked for food which she ate well. And we talked, and she slept off again. When she woke up, one of her hands was twitching.
"I called the attention of the doctor to the worrisome development. One Dr Obumnaeme examined her and said, nothing was wrong with her, that strength had gone out of her, and that the twitching was probably from the loss of electrolytes.
“That all she needed was food and rest for recovery. He advised that we give her vegetables and fruits to get better, that once they were done with the drugs and drips, he prescribed for her, that everything would normalize, and she would be fine."
Continuing, she said: "The hands continue to twitch intermittently. And out of concern I called the attention of the nurses on duty, and they told me not to worry, that nothing was wrong with her. They reminded me that the doctor said that a lot of energy had gone out of her body, that she lost electrolytes, and would be fine by the time she consumed the prescribed drugs.
"That I should just make her sleep, that the next morning, we would meet with the consultant who would know if there was anything she needed. So, we slept that night, and when we woke up in the morning, my mum told me that she didn’t sleep very well. I told her to calm down, and that once the consultant came, she would be fine. She said okay, that her hands that were shaking did not allow her to sleep very well. I said no problem. I urged her to eat her food while we waited for the chief consultant.
"She requested Pap (Akamu) and I prepared Pap for her. After drinking the Pap, I bathed her, lay her on the bed and told her to keep calm and that the consultant would be there soon to check on her.
"Around 9:00 am when I went out to wash her clothes, one doctor came in and started shouting: who is taking care of this patient? This patient is convulsing.
“The nurses who were on night duty told her it was Dr Chiboke, that the patient (my mum) was not convulsing, and that she had been showing those signs since the previous day up until that time in the morning.
"That if it was convulsion, that she would not have met her in this state, that the woman was fine. They repeated what the doctor attending to her said, that she had lost a lot of electrolytes as she had been stooling since Sunday and that she needed food and fruit to get better. The female doctor (Dr Chibuoke) insisted that the woman was convulsing. She inquired of her carer and when I came close, she ordered me to quickly get her 10mg Diazepam.
"I quickly rushed to the pharmacy and bought the Diazepam. When I returned, she said, ‘Give it to the nurse sitting down’. It was my first time of seeing this very nurse, one Edoh Micheal."
On the instruction of Dr Chiboke, she said, "I gave the Diazepam to the nurse. As the nurse was about to inject my mum with the Diazepam, the doctor came in and said, did you dilute it? The nurse said no that it doesn’t need to be diluted. The doctor said okay. No problem, go ahead.
"I then interjected and informed the doctor that I had injection water in case they wanted to dilute the Diazepam. The doctor said no problem. Don’t worry. He has already started giving it to her. The nurse then injected my mom and went and sat down."
Augustina explained that immediately after the injection was given to her, the doctor left with the nurse.
She said, "Then, within a few minutes after the injection, my mum started breathing very fast through her mouth.
“I started shouting, calling them. This is not the way she was breathing because she was awake when that drug was given to her, and she slept off immediately and started breathing through her mouth. When I called the attention of the nurse to my mum’s degenerating condition, the nurse said, ‘Go and call the doctor,’ and I ran outside to go and call the doctor, but I couldn’t find her.
"I ran back in, calling for help, and I said to the nurse, why not use the patient oxygen on my mum? I said I would pay for the oxygen. The nurse went and started pressing her heart. When the matron came in and saw what was happening, she then rushed and brought the oxygen. All of them now gathered. Before they could fix the oxygen, my mum died, and the doctors started coming in one by one.”
“One doctor said where is the daughter? She (the doctor) said, Nne come let me explain things to you. I said I didn’t need to hear anything. Just wake her up. You people should bring my mum back to life.
"Suddenly, the nurse and doctor as if on cue disappeared. At about 10:11 am, another set of elderly doctors including the chief consultant, HOD, among others, gathered in that ward and started calling me; who is the daughter? Please come, we want to talk to you. I said no. I don’t want to hear anything. Please tell them to wake my mum up for me.
“They pleaded that I should calm down, that they did not mean to kill her. That it was just a mistake. That it had happened and I should take heart. I said no, that they must bring her back to life. I was inconsolable watching my mother die just like that. I thought I was dreaming and would soon wake up to realise it was not real. But lol, it was for real; my beloved mum was dead and gone."
“Shortly after one of the female nurses who worked at night then came and said to me, ‘Why did you allow them to give her that drug?’ I asked her if she (the doctor) was not a qualified doctor?’ Why do you blame me? I only did what the doctor asked me to do. The doctor said that I should get Diazepam and I simply obeyed.
"The nurse reminded me that my mum had been like that since yesterday and we managed her.
"The doctors came back to me later to ask if I had informed my people about what happened, and I said yes. Again, just as they came, in a moment, all of them dispersed from that section.
"When my uncle arrived, he wept profusely. After he was sufficiently consoled by the people around him, my uncle said we should arrange and take my mum away to our hometown, and we agreed.
"They said that we should get the bill from the matron. We waited till 3:00 pm, and they kept directing us from one office to another. At some point, the matron tried to leave, but my uncle accosted her and requested for the bill. Give us the bill so we can settle it and leave with her body.
“The matron replied that they had prepared the bill. We told her that we had gone from office to office without anyone providing us with the bill, as those responsible said that our folder was not there. She called one of the nurses and asked me to follow the nurse to the place to get the bill.
"Finally, after hours of going back and forth, the bill was issued, and we made the payment. My uncle requested the matron to exercise patience and stay back for a while to see that everything was properly settled before she left. My uncle also requested my mum's death certificate to enable us to take her remains without any obstructions by security agents on our way home. The matron said that we should wait and that somebody was preparing the document. We waited till 5:00 pm. The vehicle we brought to carry my mum was there waiting all the while.
"At the end of the day, none of them agreed to issue the death certificate, we couldn't find any of the nurses or doctors on duty and others could not help us. We continued to wait till 6:00 pm, before I went from one room to another in search of the doctors or nurses to issue the requested paper and as I knocked and opened one room, I saw the male nurse that gave my mother the injection that killed her. Then I held him and started shouting, so you killed my mum, and you have been sitting down here since 10:00 am enjoying air-conditioning?
"He pushed me away and tried to lock the door, we started struggling for the door, and eventually, he pushed me out and locked the door.
"Then, out of anger, I went through the back window and struck the window with a mop stick, and the glass broke. The security guards then came and asked what was happening. We narrated the story. Then they said we would not be allowed to take the corpse and that we had to fix those glasses before we could take my mum away. My uncle said okay, we are going to pay for the window, but you people will revive my sister back to life.
"They now sent word to the CMD, who then called the DPO Ozalla. The DPO sent his men. When the policemen arrived at the chaotic scene, they didn’t even ask what happened. They just grabbed hold of me and wanted to drag me into their vehicle, and I refused to enter. I said to the police that if I must enter that Hilux, they must also carry my mum with me and the people who killed her. When the police saw that emotions were running high, they called the DPO, and the DPO came to UNTH by himself and demanded an explanation.
"After I narrated what happened to him, the DPO requested for the doctor, but the doctor was nowhere to be found. The DPO then asked for the nurse in question, I told him the nurse was sitting down in a room. The DPO banged the door very hard, and the nurse opened the door and came out. The DPO took both the nurse and me to write a statement at the Ozalla police station.
"After writing the statement, I was granted bail and bailed by my uncle and the DPO asked all of us to report back to the police station on Thursday, October 20.
"On that Thursday, the CMD sent a lawyer representing UNTH and one of the security officers along with the nurse in question. The lawyer first of all pleaded on behalf of the CMD. The lawyer told the DPO that the CMD said that the matter should be resolved by the police.
"After hearing from both parties what transpired on that day, the DPO was disposed to allow us to take my mum home but the hospital gave some conditions that could not be met on that day.
"They insisted we must swear to an affidavit that we would not escalate the matter after collecting my mum's body.
"As the courts had closed by that time, we all dispersed to reconvene the next day, when it was expected that we should produce the affidavit.
"By the time we could do that, the case was transferred to state CID. At the state CID, we started the process of investigation.
"When the management of UNTH felt that the officers investigating the matter were not buying their false narrative, they pretended to be seeking a peaceful resolution while they plotted to arrest me again and transfer the matter to force CID Annex.
"At force CID Annex Enugu, the DC instructed that the CMD should be invited to make a statement. Rather than obey this instruction, the legal team shielded him and the matter has been left without action for months."
Efforts to reach the spokesperson for the hospital, Cyril Keleze, failed as he did not answer his calls nor reply to a text message sent to his mobile line.
Meanwhile, Augustina has insisted that her family wants justice for her late mother.