Metro

Coroner Indicts Lagos Hospital For Patient’s Death

Published

1 year ago

March 10, 2023

A Lagos State Coroner on Thursday indicted doctors of the Premier Hospital for medical negligence, which led to the death of a patient, Peju Ugboma.

The Magistrate, Mukaila Fadeyi, made the statement while delivering judgment at the Magistrate’s Court in the Ogba area of the state.

He said it was a failure on the part of the doctor not to find out that the deceased had a pre-existing condition before the surgery was conducted.

Ugboma, 41, who was the founder of a pastry company, ‘I Luv Desserts’, died in April 2021, a few days after undergoing fibroid surgery at the hospital.

Almost two years after the death of the Lagos-based pastry chef, the coroner who conducted her inquest indicted doctors at the hospital where she did her surgery for medical negligence.

In June, the Lagos State Government, through the Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency, shut down the intensive care unit of the hospital pending the outcome of its investigation.

16 witnesses including the deceased husband, doctors, a pathologist and others were called during the coroner’s inquest which began in May 2021.

The deceased husband, Ijoma, alleged that his wife died due to negligence by doctors who attended to her at the Premier Hospital.

The coroner held that the “only logical” insight to “her death is a result of the combination of lack of due diligence of the doctors.”

Fadeyi said that the failure of appropriate response, substandard care, and inadequate optimal care contributed to her untimely demise.

He added that other factors that led to her “avoidable death” include the absence of vital medical devices to detect intra-abdominal bleeding, poor documentation of clinical notes and failure of the immediate involvement of appropriate surgeons.

According to The PUNCH, the coroner said the hospital owe their patient better medical care.

In his opinion, he said part-time doctors should not be engaged.

Fadeyi recommended that the code of conduct and ethics of medical practitioners “should be tightly reviewed to severely punish negligent doctors.”

He said the state government should not limit funding to only government hospitals but should render funds to private facilities to buy equipment.

The coroner further said that regulatory agencies should do more sensitisation on the rights of patients.

In his reaction to the judgment, the victim’s husband, while speaking to journalists, expressed satisfaction with the verdict.

He said his lawyers would advise him on the appropriate step to take next.

“I’m very happy with the outcome of the inquest; it’s been a very long one. The circumstances of my wife’s death were not satisfactory. My children told me to send them a message in school as soon as the ruling is out,” he said.

The lawyer for the deceased’s family, Babatunde Ogungbamila, said she got justice but the medical services failed her.

He further said going forward, they would apply for the verdict, seek compensation and ensure that the doctors were accountable.

Metro

Okuama/Okoloba Impasse: Women Protest In Black Attire, Raise Issues [PHOTOS]

Published

9 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

The protesting women of Okoloba community

Protesters who are majorly women from Okoloba community, Delta State, on Saturday, May 18, 2024, took to the street to protest what they called the return of armed youths of Okuama in Ughelli South Local Government Area of the state.

INFO DAILY reports that Okoloba community in Bomadi Local Government Area and Okuama community in Ughelli South Local Government Area, all in Delta State have been at loggerhead over land dispute and others.

The protesting Okoloba women in black attire staged the peaceful protest along the coastal fringe of Koloba community, chanting against violence and bloodbath.

The placard carrying women, led by the chairlady of Okoloba Community, Mrs Timipakebi Goodwin, and secretary, Mrs Mary Koibi, alleged that the armed youths of Okuama were threatening the peace of the riverine area.

Some of the protesting Women

Some inscriptions on the placards read: ‘We say no to violence’; ‘enough of the killings on our land;’ ‘armed Okuama youths returning in a commando style;’ ‘we say no to the return of armed youths of Okuama;’ ‘resettle Okuama people among their Ewu brothers in Ughelli South LGA;’ ‘we mourn the killing of the 17 soldiers,’ among others.’

Reading a letter to newsmen, a copy of each she said was submitted to the police, DSS, NSCDC, JTF as well as the acting chairman of Bomadi Local local Government Council, Mrs Goodwin noted that the latest killing by the youths of Okuama showed that they could kill human beings at the slightest provocation.

The letter which contained an S.O.S. to the Federal Government, further reads: “First, we the women of Okoloba Community sympathize with the killing of 17 soldiers and officers of the Nigerian army on peace and rescue mission to Okuama, following the kidnap of our son. We sincerely mourn their untimely death and pray for the repose of their souls. We also pray for their families.

The protesting women

“However, less than 24 hours after the exit of the troops from Okuama, a fresh crisis erupted with another neighbouring community, culminating in the killing of one person while three other persons were seriously injured. The person who was killed and those sustaining machete wounds were alleged to have gone there to loot.

“The latest killing showed that the people of Okuama can kill a human at the slightest provocation; the sanctity of human life means nothing to them. It also shows that neighbouring Ijaw communities like Okoloba are not safe.

“So, resetting the people of Okuama in their present location, which is in-between communities in Bomadi Local Government Area, is an attempt to encourage further communal clashes and bloodbaths.

“Just last week, youths of Okuama Community came out of the Mein-toruabubor creek, which leads to Ewu, on three speedboats and all of them on camouflage. They shot sporadically in the air before proceeding to OKuama. They moved to and fro the creek three times, and at every time they shot their guns in the air at the entrance of the creek.

“We are calling on the federal government to come to our aid, and the panacea to these incessant clashes and killings is for the government to relocate Okuama to Ewu clan in Ughelli South Local Government Area, where they truly and rightly belong.

“Resettling them among their own people in Ewu clan of Urhobo land will foster mutual trust among themselves as they are of the same ancestry and speak the same dialect”.

Metro

JUST IN: Truck Rams Into BRT On Lagos-Ibadan Expressway

Published

13 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

A truck has rammed into a Lagos State BRT bus at Ibafo bus-stop along the Lagos Ibadan Expressway.

The PUNCH correspondent who went to the scene gathered that the accident occurred around some minutes to 6am on Saturday.

Officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps and Police on response call at the accident scene insisted that only their Public Relations Officers were authorised to speak.

However, unconfirmed reports from onlookers noted that several people on the BRT bus were injured.

Onlookers accounts noted that the BRT was parked loading its passengers at the bus stop before the truck loaded with cows heading to Lagos rammed into it, taking it off the road to destroy shops and kiosks by the roadside.

The cow truck had been towed a little away from the scene so as not to hinder traffic.

Details later

Metro

Court Jails Social Media Influencer For Celebrity Scam

Published

22 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

A Federal High Court in Ikoyi, has sentenced Aluko Tunmise to one year in prison for his involvement in a celebrity scam.

Tunmise was prosecuted by the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a cybercrime-related charge.

This was disclosed in a post on X by EFCC on Friday, May 17.

The post reads: “Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, convicted and sentenced one Aluko Tunmise, a self-acclaimed social media influencer and model, to one year imprisonment for celebrity scam.

He was arraigned by the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a one-count charge bordering on cybercrimes.”

“One of the counts reads: “That you, ALUKO TUNMISE JUWONLO (A.K.A. KEANU REEVES), sometime between January and March, 2024 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, directly made a false statement, wherein you held yourself out as a white man by name “KEANU REEVES” on your Telegram Account, knowing same to be false and with intent that the representation is relied upon for the purpose of procuring the issuance of financial instrument to yourself and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 22(3) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act, 2015′.

He pleaded ‘guilty’ to the charge when it was read to him.

Following his guilty plea, prosecution counsel, C.C.Okezie, sought to present an operative of the EFCC, Vincent Sunday Kwambuge, to review the facts of the matter.

Kwanbuge told the court that the defendant was arrested sometime in March, 2024 at Lekki County Estate, Lagos, following credible intelligence received by the Commission on the activities of some internet fraudsters operating in the area.”